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WHEN HALF GODS GO 
AND OTHER POEMS 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO 
DALLAS • ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OP CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 



WHEN HALF GODS GO 

AND OTHER POEMS 


BY 

NORAH M. HOLLAND 


i 


“Heartily know, 
When half gods go 
The Gods arrive 

—Emerson. 


jSeto gorfe 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1924 

All rights resemd 




Copyright, 1924 , / 

By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 


Set up and electrotyped. 
Published March, 1924. 


-p<o35>l5 



Printed in the United States of America by 

THE FERRIS PRINTING COMPANY, NEW YORK. 


MAR 26 ’24' a 

©CU77S580 


J 


w o ns 



WHEN HALF GODS GO 
AND OTHER POEMS 




WHEN HALF GODS GO 


A Mystery Play 

SCENE I 

A glade in Olympus. In the foreground stands 
Apollo, leaning against a tree, holding in his hand 
a lyre with broken strings. At his feet Diana lies, 
her empty quiver and broken bow at her side. 
Pallas sits watching them while Pan, a little in the 
background, is piping to Dryads and Fauns, who 
are dancing. The dance, swift at first, grows slower 
and more mournful. 

Dryads (Sing) 

O we are weary of dancing and singing, 

Weary of sunshine and rain; 

Ne’er shall the glades of Olympus be ringing 
With our glad laughter again. 

Never again shall we dance with the shadows, 
Echo shall call us in vain; 

Vainly green woodlands and bird-haunted meadows 
Dream of our coming again. 

1 


2 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

First Dryad (Leans her cheek against a tree) 

O tree of mine, how often have I lain 
Beneath your boughs in sunshine and in rain; 
Now you shall never shield my head again. 

Second Dryad 

O pleasant meadows, when the dewy dawn 
Shall touch with misty gold the upland lawn, 
Will you remember us when we are gone? 

Third Dryad 

Farewell! Farewell! New gods shall take our place, 
Within our shrines new altar fires shall blaze, 

Our feet no more shall walk familiar ways. 

Yet, O fair fields where we were wont to dwell, 
Bird-haunted woods, dear and desirable, 

Forget not quite those who have loved you well. 

(They go out slowly and lingeringly, looking hack 
sorrowfully as they go.) 

Apollo 

The fire upon our altars dies away 

And men forget us, who once held us dear. 

Even thy fauns and dryads, O Pan, have fled. 

Pan (Rising and coming forward) 

Yet still my faithful shepherds own my sway. 
Still do they share with me their humble cheer; 
Still in my shrine they set the milk and bread 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


3 


And amber-dropping honey, clear and sweet; 
And country wine, in carven bowls, they bring. 

Diana 

No more do my white maidens dance, to greet 
Me, in the woods, beside my holy spring. 

Thy helm no more, O Pallas, burning bright. 
Shall lead thine Athens on to victory, 

Nor Aphrodite’s shoulder, rosy white. 

Break the long swell of the Sicilian sea. 

Apollo 

Men have forgotten us. 


Pallas 


Our work is done; 
We, the half-gods, sent here to lead men on 
To find the God behind the gods. 


Diana 


But we,— 

Must we, then, lose our worship? 


Pan ( Uneasily ) 

It may be 

Ye have asked too much of them; but I, who am 
wise, 

Crave of my folk no lordly sacrifice 
To smoke upon mine altar. I would share 
Their little joys and griefs, their country fare— 

A loaf, a bowl of wine, a home-made cheese 


4 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


Wrapped in a vine-leaf—and I give increase 
To their flocks and herds, and to their hearths bring 
peace. 

Apollo 

And yet, O Pan, even thy votaries 
Grow less content and stint their sacrifice. 

The loaf grows small; the bowl that once brimmed 
o’er 

With fragrant purple, brims for thee no more; 

No tender kid, ere yet his horns are grown, 

Yields, for thy sake, his life upon thy stone. 

Pan (Shrugs his shoulders) 

So that the loaf and honey still they give 
I care not, I, although the kid shall live 
To skip about the forest paths and browse 
Full many a day upon the youngling boughs. 

But is our worship doomed to pass away ? 

Who then replaces us? Wise Pallas, say. 

Diana 

Aye; whence shall come this God Who is to be ? 
And how? 

Pallas 

Not with the trump of victory, 

Nor robed in glory, as we came to men. 

But in their flesh, and bowed beneath the load 
Of their infirmities, He comes. 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 5 

Apollo ( Scornfully) 

And when 

Shall He o’ercome us—this new, beggar God? 
Pallas 


Lo! Turn ye to the Eastern skies tonight, 
And ye shall see a new star burning bright. 
Follow, and it shall lead you where He lies, 
A Babe in His mother’s arms. 


Pan 


His star doth rise 
Even as the fire upon our altar dies. 


Diana 

Ah me, my old-time worship! Ah, the beat 
Of cymbals, and the white nymphs’ flying feet, 
And the clear voices chanting! Overthrown 
Mine altar now; my courts with grass o’ergrown; 
My music ended and my maidens gone! 

Apollo 

Ah, sister, sister! This new God to be 
Who comes in weakness and humility, 

Yet still has power to thrust us from our seat, 
Must we then lay our worship at His feet? 

Shall my sun rise for Him with brighter ray— 
Thy stars and silver moon His word obey ? 

Come then, and let us seek Him out and see 
This God made man, this new divinity, 

This Babe who steals our worship. 


6 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Pallas 

Nay, not so; 

But He Who is the Lord of gods and men 

Has come among us. Shall we not yield Him then 

His own that He has lent? 

Apollo 

Come, let us go! 

{Exeunt omnes.) Curtain falling as they go. 
SCENE II 

The hills outside Bethlehem. Felix and Hob, two 
shepherds, seated at a fire. To them enter Mac, a 
much older shepherd. 

Mac 

Be the sheep folded safe ? 

Hob 

Aye; safe and fast 
This hour agone. 

Felix 

The nights be growing chill, 

And the sheep come early home. 

Mac 

The summer’s past, 
As my old bones do know. Ye be young, lads, still. 
And the blood flows quick within you. When you 
grow 


7 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 

As old as I, the current runs but slow. 

And the frost bites. 

Hob 

Sit by our fire here 
Awhile and warm you, Mac, and share our cheer. 
{Shepherds eat and drink.) 

Felix 

How bright the new star shines tonight among 
Her silver sisters! 

Hob 

Seven nights since, it swung 
Above the shoulder of the hill. Its light 
Shines on us now from heaven's topmost height. 

Mac 

An evil portent! 

Felix 

Gods forefend it! Nay, 

The evil planets burn with redder ray; 

And naught of harm has touched us since it stood 
In golden glory, there above the wood. 

Hob 

The sheep have thrived full well since first it shone; 
No prowling wolves have harmed them, and the 
lambs 

.Wax strong, in peace and safety, with their dams. 


8 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Mac 

Come, Felix, sing a stave. The night draws on. 

Felix (Sings) 

Great Zeus, upon Olympus’ top, 

May live and lie at ease; 

But we be simple shepherd folk 
From humble villages; 

And best we love the little gods 
That walk among the trees. 

Apollo, with his shining bow, 

Is Lord of Sun and Air; 

But we be simple shepherd folk 
Who know both toil and care; 

And best we love the little gods 
Our humble lot who share. 

Tall Dian, with her maidens white 
Walks lonely on the steep; 

But we be simple shepherd folk 
A-guarding of our sheep: 

And best we love the little gods 
Who laugh and love and weep. 


Mac 

Aye, aye, the gods! They laugh and lie at ease, 
Little or great, nor heed our agonies. 

Hob (Laughs) 


The gods are dead. 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


9 


Felix (Gazing into the fire) 

Yet have I dreamed of one, 

A new God, greater than the moon or sun, 

Or Zeus or Pallas, Who should set aside 
His Godhead, laying down His Power and pride 
For our sakes, and on earth our lot should share, 
Live as we live, our toils and sorrows bear, 
Because He loved us and would have us know 
His love. ’Twas so I dreamed. 


Mac 


Could it be so 

That were a God to worship. 


Hob 


The night. Make up the fire. 


Very chill 


(Puts more fuel on fire.) 


Felix 


The new star still 


Shines o’er the fold. 


Mac 


The day draws swiftly on. 
See, the East reddens with the rising sun 
And the dawn-wind blows. 


Hob 


Hush! What is that? 


10 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

(Angel appears. Shepherds spring to their feet in 
alarm.) 


Hob 


A god or man? 


Be ye 

A friend or enemy? 


Angel 

Hail, shepherds! Unto you I bring this night 
Glad tidings of great joy. A Child, the Light 
Of all the world, to you this hour is born— 

The Lord, your God. Go, seek Him out with morn. 
Lo! You shall find Him lying in a stall, 

Who is your Saviour and the Lord of all. 


Chorus of Angels (sing) 

Gloria in excelsis Deo! 

Glory be to God on high; 

Unto you a Son is born, and 
Unto you a Child is given. 

Hill to laughing hill re-echoes, 

Vale to vale makes glad reply,— 

Unto earth has God descended 
From the highest heaven. 

(Angel fades away. Shepherds stand listening with 
hands to ears.) 


Mac 


Be we awake or dreaming, lads? 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


11 


Felix 

I heard 

A rustling like the pinions of a bird 
Above us. I looked up and one stood there, 

The starlight on his wings and floating hair; 
And then—and then—a splendour like the voice 
Of some great anthem that still cried, “Rejoice! 
The Word-made-Flesh is with you here tonight.” 
Heard ye it too ? 


Hob 


We saw a burst of light 
And heard a singing. 


Mac 


Merrily it rang, 
The chorus that he and his fellows sang. 
How went it, say you? 


Felix 


That a God is born 
In Bethlehem today. 


Hob ( Looking at sky.) 


’Tis nearing morn; 
Come, let us go and seek Him. 


Mac 


Gods be fain 


Of gifts, and we have none. 


12 

Felix 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


Poor men and plain 
We be; yet I to Him a lamb will take— 
A firstling of the flock. 

Hob 

And I will make 
A ball for Him, that He therewith may play. 

Mac 


Come, let us hasten! Soon it will be day. 
How shall we find Him? 


Felix 

The star leads the way. 
(Exeunt omnes.) 


SCENE III 

The Stable at Bethlehem. Mary singing to the 
Christ-Child on her knee. Joseph stands at a little 
distance watching them. 

Mary (Sings) 

Sleep, Baby Jesukin, 

Rosy and small. 

What though Thy birth-place 
Be only a stall? 

What though Thy cradle 
A manger shall be? 

Sleep, while Thy mother 
Is watching o’er Thee. 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 13 

Sleep, Baby Jesukin, 

Dimpled feet pressed 

Close to the shelter and 
Warmth of my breast; 

Small, straying fingers 
My heart that enfold ; 

Rest, darling head 

With its ringlets of gold. 

Sleep, Baby Jesukin, 

Stars at Thy birth 

Hailed Thee as Monarch and 
Saviour of earth. 

Hard is that path to tread, 

Weary that way; 

Sleep, Baby Jesukin, 

Sleep while you may. 

{Joseph goes to door and looks out, shading his eyes 
with his hand.) 


Mary 

What see you, Joseph? 

Joseph {Pointing outside) 

Where the hills arise 
Distant and dim, through darkness to the skies, 

I see the pulsing of a wondrous light. 

Mary 

Tis the dawn, touching Hermon’s topmost height, 
Turning his snows to fire. 


14 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Joseph 

No dawn that springs 
Over the edge of the world on rainbow wings 
Comes with such radiance. The whole dome of air 
Flames into glory. Not one-half so fair 
Is the great temple at Jerusalem 
When the lights blaze and all the people sing, 

And every jewel in the garment’s hem 
Of the High Priest gleams fire. Ah, the swing 
Of the golden censers, scattering sweetness through 
The throng! 

Mary ( Murmuring ) 

No golden censers swing for You, 

O Jesukin; no multitude shall greet 
Your coming. In the manger low You lie, 
With ass and oxen standing meekly by; 

And I, Your mother, kneeling at Your feet 
Alone to worship You. 

Joseph 

A voice I hear, 

And footsteps through the darkness drawing near. 
Who comes so late? 

(Enter shepherds.) 

Hob 

Where is the Babe Who is born 

To be our King upon this Christmas morn? 


15 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Joseph (Salaaming to shepherds) 

A poor man, I, having no store of gold; 

I pray you do not harm us, sirs. Behold, 

My wife and child in this bare stable lie, 

The inn being full. Nothing of kings know I, 
Who am but a carpenter. 

Felix 

No robbers we, 

But simple shepherds. On the mountain-steep 
Last night we watched, guarding from harm our 
sheep, 

And sat around our fire, when suddenly 
A light broke round us, and beside us there 
Stood a great Angel, silver-winged and fair. 
“Follow the star,” he said, “and ye shall find 
The God-made-man, the Saviour of mankind, 

A Baby, lying in a manger bare, 

At Bethlehem, in a poor stable there.” 

He spoke and vanished; but a host there drifted 
Across the sky, on pinions all aflame, 

Of Cherubim and Seraphim, who lifted 
Their jubilant voices, crying forth the Name 
Of the new-born Saviour. And they sang again 
Of peace on earth and of good-will to men. 

Mac 

All the whole air was full of carolling— 

A merry chorus! Sweetly did they sing. 


16 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Hob 

“Follow the star,” they sang; ana lo! it fled 
Adown the skies. We followed where it led 
Until it stood above the stable here. 

But where is He That is born ? 

Mary 

Shepherds, draw near! 

Behold my Son, within the manger laid, 

Who was born of me this night. Be not afraid. 

{Shepherds kneel and worship the Child.) 

Felix 

Hail, little Lord of heaven and earth and sea! 

A firstling of the flock I offer Thee, 

Bringing Thee here a lamb for Thy delight, 

A tender playmate, soft and fleecy white. 

Hob 

Darling, put forth Thine hand and take, I pray, 
This ball I made, that Thou with it mightst play. 

Mac 

No toys have I to give, being poor and old, 

Yet take my cloak to shield Thee from the cold. 

Mary 

My Son would thank you, sirs, if He could speak, 
But He is still a Babe, helpless and weak; 

His little Lips no words have learned to say. 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


17 


Hob 

See, the dawn brightens. We must haste away. 
The flocks await our coming. 

Mac 

Grant there be 

No harm befall them! Come, lads, follow me. 

(Exit shepherds, Joseph following them out. In the 
semi-dark background of the stable gigantic shad¬ 
ows appear and misty forms emerge, gradually 
becoming more distinct, and the gods come for¬ 
ward and surround the Child.) 

Apollo (Incredulously) 

So this is He Who has usurped our seat ? 

This the great God Who takes His place on high 
Above us? 

Diana 

Can those dimpled hands and sweet 
Grasp the dread sceptre of Divinity? 

Will that small brow not ache beneath the load 
That Deity must bear? Poor Baby God! 

Pan (Comes forward alone and kneels before the 
Christ.) 

Lord, it is goat-foot Pan who kneels to Thee. 

I am the guardian of all woodland things 
Furry and small; the squirrels come to me 
Seeking their food; I teach the wild bird wings 
The ways to follow on their journeyings, 


18 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


And comfort all hurt creatures; and with rude 
Sound of my piping cheer their solitude. 

O God-made-man, I cannot come like Thee 
With help and healing for all things that be; 

I have no solacing for man’s distress, 

No cleansing water for his bitterness. 

The least of all the little gods am I, 

Yet take my worship, O Thou God most high. 

Diana 

Son of a maiden, I, a maiden, come 
From those fair Grecian hills that are my home, 
Where through the aisles of forest, dim and sweet, 
I follow the fleet deer with flying feet, 

Or, with my laughing nymphs, bathe in the cool 
Reed-guarded waters of some crystal pool. 

And I have left my woods and dimpling fountains. 
My lordly stags unhindered now may roam; 

My feet no more shall tread the old-time mountains 
And dear, familiar valleys of my home. 

The silver echoes of my horn shall make 
Music no more beside the dreaming lake; 

For lo! my quiver at Thy feet I lay 
And my sharp arrows. 

Apollo ( Kneeling ) 

I, the god of day, 

Lord of the burning sun, whose fiery heat 
Brings life to all things, yield Thee now my seat, 

O mightier Lord than I; here laying down 
Before Thee, wondrous Babe, my laurel crown. 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


19 


Pallas ( Kneeling ) 

O Word-made-flesh, Eternal Wisdom, gleaming 
Across the dark and stormy skies of earth, 

While through the centuries prophets in their 
dreaming 

Have hailed the promise of Thy mystic birth; 
Thou, Who didst send us, the half-gods, before 
Thee 

Some faint foreshadowing of Thy Life to be, 
That so the hearts of men might own Thy glory, 

O Child divine, the old gods worship Thee. 

Lo! here our service at Thy feet we lay, 

Day-star, Whose brightness pales our waning ray! 

{Music is heard outside. Shepherds pass the door 
singing .) 

Shepherds (sing) 

We be simple shepherds, 

Men of no renown, 

Guarding well our sheep-folds. 

Near to Bethlehem town. 

Baby Jesus, keep us all, 

Cot and sheepfold, bower and stall. 

Wild the wind was blowing, 

Sudden all was still, 

Laughter soft of angels 
Rang from hill to hill. 

Baby Jesus, Thou wast born 
Ere the midnight paled to morn. 


20 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Angel Chorus ( Outside) 

Gloria in excelsis Deo! Glory be to God on high! 

Unto us a Son is born, and unto us a Child is 
given; 

Hill to laughing hill re-echoes, vale to vale makes 
glad reply, 

Lo! to earth has God descended from the highest 
heaven. 


Pan 

Our worship passes, and with morning light 
O Sun of suns! Thy day arises bright. 

Apollo 

Deep in the ancient night our place will be. 
Pallas 

Yet ours it was to lead men on to Thee. 

(The old gods, with faces and hands uplifted, break 
into singing.) 

The Gods (sing) 

In the east the skies are clearing 
Where the promised day is born; 

Dim our light and disappearing, 

Thine the splendour of the morn. 

We, the old gods, sent before Thee, 
Shadows of Thy Deity, 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


21 


Adoration, praise and glory, 

Lord, we render unto Thee. 

(They rise and pass slowly out. Mary bends above 
the child. Music of the Angels' chorus sounds 
faintly outside. Curtain falls.) 

THE END 


THE AWAKENING OF 
THE LILY 


A Fairy Phantasy 

SCENE I 

A simple woodland scene, with bank in centre 
back, a mound left forward, a stump right forward. 
Space for dancing centre forward. On bank, centre 
back, three snowflakes are curled, sleeping. On 
mound, two more, and at foot of stump one is curled 
up alone. During first four bars of music they do 
not stir. As melody progresses they wake, stretch 
and begin to whirl round, slowly at first, then faster. 
After dance they quiet down and form a semicircle 
as they sing. 

Snowflakes ( sing ) 

Now our work is nearly over, 

Spring comes dancing down the lane, 
Bringing with her scent of clover, 

Song of robin, drip of rain; 

Sister Snowdrop comes again, 

Warning us to northward fly, 

Though to linger we are fain— 

Goodbye, goodbye. 

22 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 23 

All the long, dark days we’ve guarded 
Every little leaf and flower, 

Kept them safely hidden, warded 
From old Mother Winter’s power. 

Now at last has come the hour 
When the sun his spells must try, 
Laughing through each April shower— 
Goodbye, goodbye. 

Mother Winter, old and evil, 

Mother Winter, dour and grey, 

With her touch each bud would shrivel, 

But we covered them away. 

Warm and safe and deep they lay; 

Now they’re stirring restlessly; 

Soon shall Spring resume her sway— 
Goodbye, goodbye. 

At end of song melody of first verse is repeated 
and snowflakes dance a more formal dance. The 
dancing and movements are confined to the panto¬ 
mimic and instrumental parts of music. During 
words of songs snowflakes and fairies are not as 
active in their movements. At end of dance Snee- 
flocken, Starflake and Frostflower stay centre. 
Others come down stage to foolights. 

Sneeflocken 

I have not seen the old witch all day long. 


24 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Starflake 

An hour ago I heard her wicked tongue 
Mumbling and muttering curses deep and low 
Because ’twas almost time for her to go. 

Frostflower 

She goes, but we must follow in her train 
Ere down the hillside comes the Spring again. 

I wish that we might linger till the trees 
Put on their gay green dresses. 

Sneeflocken 

And the bees 

Tune all their pipes in fields of clover-bloom. 
Or where the violets spill their sweet perfume 
And butterflies dance merrily. 

Starflake 

But we 

Far, far away shall hold our revelry, 

And, through the long hours of the Arctic nights, 
Dance with the North-Winds and the Northern 
Lights. 

Frostflower 

And, while the Waggoner his watch shall keep 
O’er the white stretches of the frozen deep, 

Shall whisper to the winds a tale of green 
Rush-girdled pools, where fairies lie serene 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 25 


On the great water-lily leaves that float 
Upon their surface, listening to the note 
Of some shy bird, that in the branches swings. 

Starflake 

Until in those wild breasts a warmth there springs 
And cold eyes soften, as they dream awhile, 

’Mid the eternal frosts, of Summer’s smile. 

Sneeflocken 

Hush! I hear Winter’s footsteps drawing near; 
Jack Frost is with her. Let us hide from her. 

(Snowflakes all run back to bank and hide, forming 
snowbank.) 

Winter 

What! No-one here? Well, well, upon my word, 
’Tis but a little minute since I heard 
Those scatterbrains, the snowflakes, chattering 
As is their wont, all tongues together clattering. 

A noisy crew! And now they all are gone. 

Jack Frost 

So much the better. Hussies, every one! 

Oft have they marred our toil, old mother, hid 
The tender buds we would have nipped and killed. 
Their fingers oft would spoil the work we did, 
Warming to life again the flowers we chilled. 


26 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Winter ( testily) 

My curse be on them, and on Spring, our foe! 
Jack Frost 

Hush, Mother! Let me whisper in your ear; 
Now is the time to deal her a last blow, 

Here in her fortress, ere we disappear. 

(Whispers.) 

Winter 

Why, that’s my clever son! Let’s go prepare 
Our vengeance. ’Tis a hopeful scheme, I’ll swear. 

(Exit Winter and Jack Frost, left forward on line 
of footlights, keeping time to music. Music 
changes to Snowflake music, and snowflakes whirl 
out from hiding singly, Sneeflocken, Starflake and 
Frost flower ending their dance at footlights.) 

Starflake 

What mischief is the old witch hatching now? 
Sneeflocken 

She and her son are a sweet pair, I vow. 
We’ll keep a watch upon them, and undo, 

So far as in us lies, their scheming, too. 

Starflake 


Spring should be warned. 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 27 


Frostflower 

Let us tell Oberon, then, 

To let her know Jack Frost is luring near, 
Hoping to nip her, ere he disappear. 

{Enter LITTLE DAISY forward left, and runs to 
snowflakes, who draw back a little, forming semi¬ 
circle watching him.) 


Little Daisy 

O, please, are you the fairies of the glen? 


Frostflower 

Why, child, how came you here? No fairies we, 
Only the snowflakes. 


Little Daisy 


They said I should see 
Queen Spring and all her courtiers here. So small 
Am I, I’ve never seen the Spring at all. 

But oh, I am so tired. Eve walked so far 
From the big field where all my brothers are, 

And now she has not come, and they will be 
So angry with me, when they follow me. 


{Begins to cry.) 


Snowflakes 


Poor little lad! 


28 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Starflake 


Sit down and rest, my dear. 

Here's Oberon coming. Spring will soon be here. 

(OBERON enters, forward left, and ROBIN 
GOODFELLOW forward right, and meet in 
centre.) 

Oberon 

Now are the rough blasts of the winter o'er, 

The south wind sings through all the land once more. 

(Calls.) 

Ho! Robin Goodfellow! Robin, I say. 

Robin 

What would you with me? 


Oberon 

Blow your horn, I pray, 

And call my flowers and my fairies here 
To make all trace of winter disappear. 

Spring needs must find a carpet for her feet, 
When she shall come, of blossoms fair and sweet. 

Robin 

They're close at hand, and when my horn I blow 
They’ll be with us ere forty seconds go. 

(Snowflakes at end of 0 heron's speech come out and 
gradually approach, forward centre. Robin turns 
and sees them.) 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 29 
Robin 

What do you here ? I thought you vanished quite, 
My playfellows of many a wintry night. 

Oberon (Sees them) 

Truants, why do you linger? Disappear. 

What would Spring say if she should find you here? 

Sneeflocken 

No, no, indeed, we need not go just yet. 
Starflake 

We worked so very hard all winter long 
Covering the buds, for fear that they should get 
Bitten by old Wolf Frost. 

Frostflower 

But now they're strong 
And Winter's packing up to go. But we 
Are tired of working. Let us dance. We’ll be 
So very, very good. Of course we know 
When Sister Snowdrop comes, we needs must go. 

(SNOWDROP enters , forward left , and snow¬ 
flakes draw away , leaving her centre.) 

Snowdrop 

Did someone call? 


Oberon 

Here’s Snowdrop now. Away! 

Scamper, you rogues, you must no longer stay. 


30 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Sneeflocken (To Snowdrop) 

Why did you come so soon? Now we must flee. 
Goodbye, dear Snowdrop. Sisters, follow me. 

(Sings.) 

We must leave the pleasant places, 

Leave our laughter and our play, 

Turning to the desert spaces 
Where the wild North Wind holds sway. 
Sisters, sisters, come away, 

Northward, northward we must fly. 
Snowdrop, dear, we cannot stay,— 

Goodbye, goodbye. 

(Snowflakes have whirling dance and exit left.) 

Snowdrop (calls after them) 

Goodbye, dear sisters. Soon I too must go; 

Yet here I’ll wait, till brighter blossoms blow. 

Robin 

Farewell, you rogues! Yet soon again we’ll meet, 
And frolic through the woods with flying feet, 

Or whirl among the brown leaves on the hill 
While the north wind is piping loud and shrill. 

Oberon 

A madcap rout! Yet they are kindly too. 

Come, Robin, blow your horn. There’s much to do. 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 31 


Robin (Blows his horn and sings) 

Elves of forest and of brake, 

Hill and hollow, stream and lake, 

Leave your rivers and their sedges, 

Leave bare woods and leafless hedges; 
Nixies, pixies, one and all, 

Flower and fairy, bird and bee, 

Hear ye not your comrade's call? 

Come, ’tis Robin calls to thee. 

Leprechauns, your cobbling leave; 

Ellemaidens, the web ye weave; 

Gnome and goblin, elf and sprite, 

There is work for all tonight. 

Dryads, leave your oak-trees’ shade, 

Water nymphs, your crystal halls; 

Fauns, forsake your ferny glade; 

Answer all, when Robin calls. 

(During song OBERON stands to right and ROBIN 
centre. In music following song, ROBIN skips 
to stump right, and Oberon goes centre back. 
Water Fairies enter right and land fairies left, 
forming a semicircle, OBERON centre.) 

Water Fairy 

We have left our whispering reeds 
Where the lazy salmon feeds, 

Left our scented fleur-de-lys, 

And our purple irises, 

Banks of blue forgetmenot, 


32 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


And each beryl-paven grot 
Where the water ripples on; 
What wouldst with us, Oberon? 


Land Fairy 

We be fays of English birth, 
Sprung from her most holy earth, 
From her immemorial trees, 

From her leafy coppices; 

Loving, with a love profound, 
Every inch of English ground. 

We have heard thy summons swell, 
Robin, through each leafy dell, 

And have hastened at that call 
From our woods and waters all. 

Lo! we’ve gathered, every one, 
What wouldst with us, Oberon? 


Oberon 

I would have you weave a spell, 

Weave it strongly, weave it well, 

That when Spring shall come, she’ll find 
Here a place that’s to her mind. 

Dryads, lend your dappled shade, 

Elves, bejewel all the glade 

With your flowers, bright and fair; 

Water fairies, fill the air 

With a murmurous sound and low, 

Like a river in its flow. 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 33 
Robin 

Link hands and dance, about, about! 

So shall we speed the winter out. 

(Elves dance out, land fairies forward left, water 
fairies forward right. Flowers enter, some hack 
right, some hack left. Snowdrop joins Daffodil as 
flowers enter. Daisy wakes and sits up watching 
them.) 

Daffodil 

How blue and bright the sky is. Do you hear 
How the stream bubbles through the rushes near ? 
And, Violet, see! the grass is green once more. 

Violet 

And here’s the hiding-place I knew of yore 
Beneath the hawthorn tree, where all the day 
I’d sit and see the other flowers at play. 

Poppy 

You are too timid. Why can you not stay 
Here, with the rest of us, dance and be gay ? 

Violet 

I never could! So many eyes to see! 

No, no; my corner’s good enough for me. 

Lily 

Dear Violet, when the grasshopper shall lead 
His minstrel chorus back across the mead 
To welcome Spring, will you not dance with me? 


34 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Violet 

It will be sweet to hear his melody 

Ring out once more with laughing notes and clear, 

To herald Spring and bid her welcome here; 

But I would rather listen to his song 
Here in my corner, hidden from the throng. 

I cannot frolic like the rest, you see, 

And Poppy and the others laugh at me. 

Lily 

It shall be as you will, dear. Never mind; 

For Poppy does not mean to be unkind. 

She loves to laugh and dance and make a stir, 

And thinks that all the world must be like her. 

Big Daisy 

We will dance with you, Poppy, if you will, 

But wait till Spring shall come across the hill. 

Little Daisy (Running forward ) 

O brothers dear, I am so glad you’ve come! 

It seems so long since I was safe at home, 

And I have travelled—oh, so far!—and seen 
So many things, but not the Fairy Queen. 

Big Daisy 

You naughty child! We’ve hunted far and wide 
To find you. Say, why did you leave our side? 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 35 


Little Daisy 

I wanted so to see the Queen, and then— 

Rose ( Laughing) 

Don’t scold him, Daisy, he’ll not do it again. 
Lily 

Keep with your brothers, dear. (To others) 
And then, you know, 

’Tis a brave lad that would adventure so. 

But hark! I hear a silver trumpet blow! 

(A flourish of trumpets. Enter Frogs. Flowers 
form semicircle as they are heard. Three frogs 
enter left hack and three right hack, reaching 
centre of stage hy long hop between flowers. 
Frogs stand during song, hut take frog positions 
to dance.) 

Frogs (Sing) 

We are Springtime’s heralds gay, 

See our coats of gold and green, 

And our throats of whitest sheen, 

Hear us chant our roundelay. 

Laughing, dancing, fresh and fair, 
Springtime came with odours sweet, 
Crocus-flame beneath her feet, 

Pussy-willows in her hair. 


36 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


Frogs, Oh frogs, my heralds, go 
Unto all my folk, said she, 

Great and small they wait for me; 

Blow your silver trumpets, blow. 

So we come. O chant her praise; 

All our throats ring out the song; 

Hear the notes roll rich and strong— 

Spring is coming down the ways. 

(Blow trumpets and exit on all fours, three right and 
three left forward. Spring enters hack and takes 
centre. O heron hows and leads her forward 
centre.) 

Oberon 

Greeting, fair sister. All your Court attend 
To bid you welcome. See how many a friend 
Has come in haste to join your revelry. 

Lily 

Welcome, thrice welcome to your Majesty. 
Rose 

And long and fair your days of sovranty. 
Spring 

Greetings and thanks to you, my friends. The reign 
Of Winter now is past, and Spring again 
Calls you to revel. 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 37 


Poppy 

Long the months have been, 

Madam, that we have waited for our Queen. 

Now you are here, and all your friends rejoice. 

Daffodil 

From every copse the blackbird lifts his voice 
To welcome you. 

Robin 

Bird, butterfly and bee 

Are hastening to your presence from all lands. 
Big Daisy 

And beetles come, in all their panoply, 

And Wasp is marshalling his soldier bands; 
Cricket and grasshopper at your commands 
Will soon be here. 

Spring 

Then let the dance begin. 

Sound, pipe and sackbut, flute and violin. 
Grasshopper, cricket, call the minstrels in. 

{Enter Grasshopper.) 

Grasshopper 

Hail, Queen! Your minstrel comes again from those 
Enchanted lands where sunshine ever glows, 

Where snows fall never and no hailstones beat, 


38 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


Yet I have sought in vain for flowers there 
As bright as Rose, or as the Lily fair, 

Or Daffodil, or Violet shy and sweet. {To flowers) 

Violet (To Lily) 

Oh, he has thought of me while far away! 

You heard him say it. He has thought of me! 

Spring 

Right gladly do we greet you. Whither stray 
Your fellow minstrels? 

Grasshopper 

Cricket came with me 

And thrush and blackbird are upon the way. 
Lily 

Now welcome home, our poet. Rose and I 
Have missed you sorely, and, though Violet’s shy 
And can’t find words, she bids you welcome too. 

Violet 

Dear Grasshopper, indeed, indeed I do. 

Grasshopper (Raises Violet's hand to his lips) 

Thanks, Violet. Whatever chanced I knew, 
Though all should fail me, you would still be true. 

{Enter Bee.) 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 39 


Poppy 

Welcome, old Sobersides; you’re late, you know, 
To greet our Queen. She came an hour ago. 

Bee 

I have been seeking her all day. At last 
The Blackbird came and said that she had passed 
This way along the lane. Your Majesty (to Spring ) 
I am no Courtier, just a working-bee, 

With all my heart I welcome you again, 

Hoping that long and sunny be your reign. 

Spring 

We thank you, Bee. Now, let the music play, 
And all, with merry hearts, make holiday. 

Lily 

I am so glad you’ve come again, dear Bee; 
Forget your work and dance awhile with me. 


Bee 

I fear that I can dance but heavily. 
(Music and dance. Winter laughs outside .) 
Winter (Outside) 

Softly, tread softly, lest our step they hear! 
Little Spring dreams that we are lurking near. 


40 JVHEN HALF GODS GO 

Spring 

Hark! What was that? 
{Exit Spring and Oberon.) 

Snowdrop 

’Twas Winter's voice, I know. 


Daffodil 

I thought she had gone north long, long ago. 
{Exit Snowdrop and Daffodil.) 

Bee 

Nay, surely she is gone. She would not dare 
To linger here. 

Rose 

’Twere best to have a care; 

She’s full of malice, and if she could deal 
One stroke before she went to make us feel 
Her power, she would not spare to strike the blow. 

Lily 

Why should she hate our gentle mistress so? 
Robin 

She’s old and crabbed. Spring is young and fair, 
With laughing eyes and blossoms in her hair 
So Winter hates her. 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 41 


Poppy 

Let us run and see 

If we can find her. If she’s prowling near 
We’ll pack her howling off. 

(Exit Poppy, Violet, Grasshopper and Bee.) 

Little Daisy 

But then, if she 

Is really a witch, her spells may be 
Too strong for us. 

Rose 

What? Trembling, child? Don’t fear. 
She shall not hurt you. 

(Exit Rose and Robin.) 

Big Daisy 

Not while we are near. 

(Exit Daisies, right.) 

Flowers (Calling outside) 

Is she here? 

There’s no one near? 

Bee 

Does she lurk within the dell? 
Grasshopper 


No-one here. 


42 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

All 

’Tis well, ’tis well. 

Lily {Calls after them) 

I’ll wait for you until you come again. 

(Sits on Bank.) 

I’m glad that Spring is here and Winter’s reign 
Is over. Oh,’I thought she’d never go; 

And I had grown so tired of ice and snow. 
{Sleepily) I’m tired still. {Winter's music is 
heard.) 

I’ll lie upon this mound 
Until the others come. {Sleeps) 

{Enter Jack Frost and Winter, forward right.) 
Winter 

Is this the ground 

That Spring has chosen for her revelry? 
Jack Frost 

This is the place. 


Winter 

She reckoned not with us. 

Haste to our vengeance lest they come ere we 
Have left the glade desert and ruinous. 

Touch with your fingers, son, and turn to blight 
And death all things that now know life and light. 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 43 
Jack Frost ( Sees Lily) 

Stay, who is here? 


Winter 

One of Spring’s maidens, she. 

Now shall our vengeance strike right heavily. 

Jack Frost 

Hush! Wake her not till we have laid our spell 
Upon her. 

Winter 

She sleeps soundly. All is well. 

(Dance and Chant.) 

In our magic spell we wind her, 

With our icy touches bind her; 

Touch her hands, her heart, her brow. 

Seal her eyes to slumber now. 

Naught shall rouse her from her sleeping, 
Naught shall wake her heart to leaping 
Till a lover’s arms enfold her, 

Till a lover’s eyes behold her; 

And his kiss so warm shall lie 
On cold hands and brow and eye 
That our icy spell shall be 
Melted from her utterly. 

Until then, though comrades weep, 

Long and chill shall be her sleep. 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


Winter 

Ha-ha-ha-ha! Now will they feel our power, 
These foes of ours. 

Jack Frost 

I hate them, every flower, 

And fain would have them all lie as she lies. 

Winter 

Well, we must northward flee. Ere she arise 
Many a day will pass. 

Jack Frost 

Yet she is fair, 

And must have loves a-plenty. 

Winter 

But to break 

The icy spell, it must be that they dare 
And sacrifice and suffer for her sake. 

No light love’s fires shall melt away the chill 
That holds that slumber heavy on her still. 

Jack Frost 

Listen! The others come again, and we 
Must fly before them. 

Winter 

Come, then; follow me. 

(Exit forward left . Enter Flowers laughing and 
talking.) 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 45 


Rose 

No trace of Winter there within the dell. 
Daffodil 

No footsteps of her by the river-side. 
Snowdrop 

Yet ’twas her laugh we heard. I know it well. 
Big Daisy 

Well, we have hunted for her far and wide 
And found no trace of her. 

Rose 

Where’s Lily? She 
Did not come with us. 


Poppy 

Underneath that tree. 

She said she’d wait till we returned. We’ll creep 
Softly and wake her. 

(Flowers creep gaily back stage and surround Lily.) 
She is sound asleep. 

Rose 

Lily, dear. 


Daffodil 


She does not wake. 


46 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Daisy 

Oh, how cold and still she lies. 

Violet 

Lily, darling. 

Poppy 

Rise, and shake 

All the slumber from your eyes. 
Snowdrop 

No, our words are all in vain. 
Still she lies, and hears not one. 


Violet 

Will she wake to life again? 


Daffodil 

Let us call to Oberon. (Calls) 
Oberon, Oberon, lend your aid, 
Lo! We all are sore afraid. 

(Enter Oberon and Robin, forward right.) 
Oberon 

Did someone call me? 


Rose 


Oberon, Oberon, see! 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 47 
Daisy 

She will not waken, so we cried to thee. 

Flowers ( Sing ) 

We have called her, “Lily, Lily,” 

We have kissed her hands and hair; 

But she lies so white and chilly, 

She, of all the flowers most fair. 

Is she dead, or is she sleeping? 

Will she wake to life again? 

Sister, sister, we are weeping; 

Shall our sorrow be in vain? 

Oberon, Oberon, who has wrought it? 

Bound her sweetness with this spell? 
Whose the evil heart that thought it?— 

She whom all things loved so well. 

We have called her, “Lily, Lily,” 

Kissed and kissed her yet again; 

Still she lies so white and chilly— 

Shall our grief be all in vain? 


Oberon 

I see in this the trace of Winter’s hand. 


Rose 

We thought that she long since had left the land, 
And never dreamed that she so bold would grow 
As to invade the Court of Springtime so. 


48 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Daisy 

Is there no way the icy spell to break? 
Oberon 

I know but one. If someone for her sake 
All he holds dearest at her feet shall lay 
Then shall his kisses melt the ice away. 

Come, let us send our heralds far and wide 
And spread the news through all the country-side, 
That all who will may try the prize to gain 
And woo the Lily back to life again. 

Robin 

Fear not! Full many love her. Butterfly, 

Moth, Grasshopper and Bee their spells shall try; 
And many a suitor from north, east, west, south. 
Will haste to lay their kisses on her mouth. 

{Flowers begin to file out.) 

Daffodil ( Pausing) 

How shall we leave her lying there alone? 
Oberon 

Nay, o’er her head the friendly boughs shall bend, 
And the shy forest fairies, everyone, 

Her mossy couch attend. 

And through the sunny hours bright dreams shall flit 
Around her drowsy slumber, guarding it. 

(Flowers slowly file out, Oberon last, leaving Lily 
alone. Music of song repeated. Stage in dark¬ 
ness, save for spot of light on Lily.) 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 49 


SCENE II 

Same setting as end of last scene. Flowers return 
to music and circle about bank, dancing and laughing. 
Daisy stops them. 

Daisy 

Hush! you’ll wake her. 


Poppy 

Never fear; 

She sleeps soundly, Daisy dear. 


Daffodil 

We may dance, she will not wake; 
We may sing, she does not stir. 

Rose 

Song or laughter cannot shake 
Slumber from the eyes of her. 

Poppy 

Three days since she danced with us 
Lightest foot in all the glen. 


Violet 

Now she lies in silence thus; 
Will she ever dance again? 


50 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Rose 

Only love can break the charm 
That has bound her in its chain, 

Lover’s kisses, soft and warm, 

Call her back to life again. 

Daffodil 
O, here is Oberon. 

(Enter OBERON and ROBIN , forward Right.) 
Your Majesty, 

We pray you tell us when once more we’ll see 
Lily dance with us, as she did of yore? 

Oberon 

Fear not; ere nightfall she will wake once more. 
(Music outside. Enter WASP, singing.) 

Wasp 

A strong arm and a trusty blade, 

And the world wherein to roam, 

O who would change a soldier’s trade 
To rust in peace at home? 

Kling, kling, 

The brave blows ring, 

And the bugle calls us, Come. 

A stout heart and a comrade true, 

And a lass in every town, 

And lusty lads to drink with you 
The bitter ale and brown; 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 51 

Quaff, quaff, 

With jest and laugh, 

As the foaming drink goes down. 

O light loves they may come and go 
As the sunshine follows rain, 

And laughing eyes may overflow; 

They weep for us in vain. 

Sip, sip, 

Each maiden’s lip, 

And we’re off to fight again. 

Wasp (To Poppy) 

Goodmorrow to you, Mistress Rosycheek, 

If a poor soldier may but to you speak 
I’d ask you why this gallant company 
Is gathered here? Some feat of arms to see? 
Or for some tournament? I pray you, tell. 

Poppy 

Nay, sir; it is to break the wicked spell 
That left the Lily silent on her bier. 

Listen, and soon our herald you will hear 
Proclaim the news that all may strive to break 
Old Winter’s charm and bid the Lily wake. 

Oberon 

Robin, ring out the summons far and wide, 
And call them in from all the country side. 

(Flowers stand around Lily. Oberon stands right.) 


52 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Robin (Sings) 

We cried, but she would not waken; 

We called, but she has not stirred; 

Her slumber is still unshaken 
By revel or song or word. 

The dryads their watch were keeping 
Above her, and sang to her sleeping, 

And the nixies went weeping, weeping; 

Nor laughter nor grief has she heard. 

O come then, with passion and power; 

Come in from the north and the south, 
From the east and the west and shower 
Your kisses upon her mouth. 

She lies here, calm and unmoving, 

O, lovers, turn from your roving 
And wake her to life and loving, 

From the spell that has bound her youth. 

(ROBIN, after song, seats himself upon stump.) 
Daisy 

O, who will come and wake her? 

Poppy 

Do not fear, 

For she had many a lover. 

Rose 

Far and near 

The summons swells, and surely they will hear. 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 53 


Daffodil 

Even slow, plodding Bee to catch her smile 
Would linger near, and cease his toil awhile. 

Violet 

And Grasshopper full many a song has made 
In praise of her. 

Rose 

And cricket through the glade 

Has sung them shrilly all the summer night 

Till the sun came and darkness took to flight. 

Robin (Calls) 

What ho! What ho! If ye would try your fate, 
O lovers, hasten, lest ye come too late. 

(Wasp swaggers forward, bowing to Oberon.) 
Wasp 

If a poor soldier, Sire, may strive to win 
The prize, the lists I fain would enter in. 

Oberon 

Why, sir, the venture all may try who care, 
But most shall fail. 

Wasp 

Well, that’s the chance of war; 

I’ll try my luck. 

(Oberon draws aside, showing Lily.) 


54 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


So that’s the maiden ? She 

Is a fair lass, but all too pale for me. 

I like a rosy armful, plump and warm; 

Still—( Stoops and kisses Lily )—if a soldier’s kiss 
can break the charm, 

Rouse you my girl. ( Lily does not stir.) 

There’s lasses that would be, 

To win my kisses, fain to follow me 
Around the world. 

Oberon 

You have failed. Let others try 
How they shall fare. Give back, sir. 


Wasp 

As you will; 

There’s many a lass that better takes my eye 
Than this poor shadow, frozen, white and still. 

{Swaggers out, forward left.) 

Flowers {Dance and sing) 

Cold and white and still she lies, 

Folded hands and fast shut eyes. 

Not your touch shall bid her leap 
Flushed and laughing from her sleep. 

Only true love’s power shall stir 
Life within the heart of her; 

True love’s kisses, close and warm. 

Melt the ice and break the charm. 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 55 

{MOTH saunters languidly in, forward right, and 
stands watching the dance disapprovingly. When 
it ceases, he strolls forward and speaks to 
OBERON.) 

Moth 

Good morrow, Sire. 


Oberon 

Have you come to break 

The icy spell, and bid the Lily wake? 

Robin ( Scornfully ) 

Not he, forsooth! No warmth his kisses hold, 
Who loves the shadows more than sunlight’s gold. 

Moth 

First I would see the maiden, if you please; 
{Glances disdainfully at Flowers.) 

Moth 

I love not gaudy creatures, such as these; 

My soul cries out for subtler harmonies. 

{A murmur of indignation from Flowers.) 

Poppy 

Gaudy, indeed! 


Violet 


The softer tints are best. 


56 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Daffodil 

Must we ask him ere we go gaily dressed ? 
Oberon 

Yet Spring and Nature love bright tints. 
Moth 

I know; 

But Art to me doth deeper beauties show— 

Not crude robustness, vulgar, gaudy, gay. 

But languid, lovely colors of decay. 

Yet I would see the maid, and note if she 
Has aught of an artistic charm for me. 

(OBERON shows Lily.) 

She’s fair in truth. How cold and pure her face! 
Methinks that she should move with sinuous grace. 
(Kisses her languidly.) 

Lift up those heavy lids and see in me 
A poor apostle of Art’s purity. 

Arouse thee, fair one. I have laid, in sooth, 

The purple kiss of passion on thy mouth. 

(LILY does not move.) 

She does not stir! 


Oberon 

Not yours her heart to win. 

Back, and let other suitors now come in. 

(Moth saunters languidly out, forward left.) 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 57 


Grasshopper ( Enters, forward right, to music) 

Hail, Oberon! A wandering minstrel I, 
Across the hills I come from Arcadie; 

I long have loved the Lily, and am fain 
To break from her old Winter’s icy chain, 

So, with your leave, I would the venture try. 

Violet 

How can she fail to answer to his voice? 
Were he to call me, how should I rejoice! 

Oberon 

Hail, sir; the venture all may try who will. 


Rose 

Many have tried; but Lily slumbers still. 
Grasshopper 

If song may wake her, she shall go with me 
And view the pleasant land of Arcadie. 

Daffodil 

Nay, nay, we cannot lose the Lily so. 


Poppy 

The Court of Spring were sad if she should go. 


58 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Grasshopper 

Yet go she must. Naught should the minstrel bind; 

He must be free to travel with the wind. 

(Sings) 

Heart of my heart, the long road lies, 

A streak of white across the down, 

To where the hilltops touch the skies; 

Then let us seek the mountain’s crown, 

And cross its summit, bare and brown, 

Heart of my heart, O come with me 
To walk the ways of Arcadie. 

Heart of my heart, right merrily 

The little winds of Springtime blow; 

The air is full of melody, 

The birds are singing, soft and low; 

Heart of my heart, then let us go 
Across the hills, and wander free 
The pleasant paths of Arcadie. 

Heart of my heart, if song may break 
The frozen sleep that on you lies, 

List to my singing. Wake, O wake, 

And thrust that slumber from your eyes 
While sunny still the April skies; 

Heart of my heart, and roam with me 
Across the hills in Arcadie. 

(He kisses her, she does not stir. During song 
flowers seat themselves, some by bank near Lily, 
others on mound forward. At end of song they 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 59 

rise and watch eagerly. Violet stands by mound, 
far enough away from him for him not to hear 
her.) 

Violet 

Surely, surely, she will hear. 


Rose 

Not his singing, sweet and clear, 

Breaks the spell that long has bound her. 

Daffodil 

Not for him shall she arise 
With the lovelight in her eyes. 


Daisy 

Still she sleeps as when we found her. 

(Grasshopper goes slowly out, forward left, looking 
back sadly.) 

Violet (Sighs) 

Ah, would he only sing that song to me, 

Gladly I’d follow him to Arcadie. 

(BUTTERFLY and BEE enter, to butterfly music. 
Butterfly dances in, forward right, to ROSE, for¬ 
ward left, who receives him with smiles. Bee 
remains forzvard right.) 


60 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Butterfly 

Ha, Rose, old friend! Say, have I come too late? 
Has any kiss broken the icy spell? 

Or does she still in that charmed slumber wait? 

Rose 

Her sleep is yet unbroken. 


Butterfly 

It is well. 

(To Oberon) Is it permitted, Sire, to try my fate? 
Oberon 

Why, all who love her may the venture try. 
Butterfly 

A universal lover, Sire, am I. 

I love the saucy sweetness of the Rose, 

The Violet shy, with modest-drooping head, 
The Daffodil, in cloth of gold who goes, 

And laughing Poppy, in her robes of red; 

Dear little Daisy in her robes of white, 

And Lily ever was my heart’s delight. 

Oberon (Laughing) 

Too freely, sir, I fear your fondness flows; 

She will not wake for kisses such as those. 

Say, will you give, to drive her sleep away, 

Out of your life one long, sweet summer day? 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 61 
Butterfly 

Why, life is short, and summer days are rare, 
And, if she wake not, others are as fair. 

Bee {Indignantly) 

There’s ne’er another flower as sweet as she! 
Butterfly 

Why, Rose or Daffodil will dance with me 
As lightly, Poppy laugh as merrily. 

Yet, if a kiss will do it, I am fain 
To draw the Lily back to life again. ( Kisses 
her; she does not move.) 

Well, since she will not wake, I’ll not delay. 

{To Flowers, who have been laughingly watching) 
Will you not come and dance, while yet we may? 

{Butterfly and Flowers dance and sing) 

O bright gleams the sun on butterfly wings. 

And the skies are ablaze with light; 

And faster, faster, our dancing swings 
As we follow the butterflies’ flight. 

We called to the Lily in vain, in vain; 

For slumber has bound her yet; 

Our presence may loose not the icy chain; 

Then, come, let us dance and forget. 

{Circle about stage in happy dance and Butterfly 
leads them out forward left, Bee coming centre 
watching them.) 


62 

Bee 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


What! Have they gone and left her here alone ? 
Of all her lovers, was there then not one 
Whose love was strong enough the spell to break 

Oberon 

Why, there are many flowers still awake 
Who ask no sacrifice made for their sake. 


Bee 

Little have I to give—no soldier, I, 

Nor robed in beauty, like the Butterfly; 

No priest of Art, nor apt in minstrelsy 
As Grasshopper—but a poor working Bee. 
Yet, if to give my life the spell will break 
Gladly I’ll lose it, Lily, for your sake. 

Oberon ( Cynically ) 

Easy in words the offering to make. 


Bee 


Try me and test! 


Oberon 

What if I bid you give 

Your wings, and for her sake a cripple live? 

Bee 

A hard command—yet, if ’twill break the chain 
And bring the Lily back to life again, 

Then, Oberon, take them! 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 63 
Oberon 

Kiss her first, and see 
If she will wake. 

{Bee kisses Lily. She opens her eyes and holds out 
her hands.) 

Lily 

Kiss me once more, dear Bee. 

{He lifts her to her feet and kisses her. Song.) 

Bee and Lily {Sing) 

Lily 

Kiss me once more. The frozen sleep 
Has melted from my eyes away, 

And warm within my heart I keep 
The kisses that you gave today. 

Kiss me once more. 

Kiss me once more; the ardent sun 
Has kissed the earth with lips of fire, 

And turns to where, till day be done, 

The sea waits, faint with her desire. 

Kiss me once more. 


Bee 

At last, at last, the icy chain 

Has broken; turn and slake my drouth. 
The kiss I gave you, give again; 

O golden head and honey mouth, 

Kiss me once more. 


64 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


The Butterfly, since morn first burned, 

Has kissed the flowers, his worshippers; 

The Violet long ago has learned 
Her minstrel’s kisses answer hers. 

Kiss me once more. 

Lily and Bee 

O lips that gave me life anew, 

O golden head and honey mouth, 

Parched with desire I turn to you, 

O let your kisses slake my drouth. 

Kiss me once more. 

The moth to the pale moon has turned, 
Nor turned him to the moon in vain; 

The earth to kiss the sea has yearned, 

The sea to kiss the land again. 

Kiss me once more. 


Lily 

Oh, I have waked from sleep as sound as this 
Yet never known the rapture of your kiss 
Till now. How many wasted hours have gone 

Bee 

I never dreamed you would be all my own! 
Dear, are you sure that no regret will stir 
Within your heart? Cricket and Grasshopper 
Can sing your praises; Moth and Butterfly 
Go robed in beauty. A poor worker I, 

Who can but love you. 


THE AWAKENING OF THE LILY 65 


Lily 

But your kiss, you see, 

Waked me from sleep. Kiss me again, dear Bee! 

{Fairies and Flowers enter and dance round them, 
singing. Flowers form a semicircle at hack, 
Oheron at right, and Robin forward left. Bee 
and Lily centre.) 

Fairies and Flowers 

Broken is the spell that bound her; 

Lo! at last true love has found her. 

% 

She has wakened from her sleeping, 

Warm once more her heart is leaping; 

And a lover’s eyes behold her, 

And a lover’s arms enfold her; 

And his kisses, close and warm, 

Melt the ice and break the charm. 

Henceforth may they know together 
Pleasant paths and sunny weather; 

Many a happy season see, 

Lily-bell and Honey-bee. 

{Curtain.) 


66 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 
Mushrooms 

Golden hair on the breezes blown, 

Starry eyes that laugh through the shadows, 

Shoon of silver, gossamer gown, 

Fairies dance in the dewy meadows. 

Bright eyes follow their flying feet— 

Water rats from the river sedges, 

Baby bunnies, furry and sweet, 

Sleek, shy mice from the hazel hedges. 

Moonshine glimmer on rainbow wings, 

Tinkle of song and music sighing, 

Wider, wider the circle swings, 

Faster the fairy feet are flying. 

Then—a cloud o’er the moon is cast, 

Heavy and slow the rain is falling; 

Fairy feet are scurrying past, 

Fairy voices crying and calling. 

Veil of moonshine and silver mist, 

Cap of scarlet and white owl’s feather, 

Emerald robes and amethyst, 

Vanish into the dark together. 

Lone lies the meadow, dark and chill, 

Silent the elfin song and chatter, 

Only the wind moans o’er the hill 
And on the grass the raindrops patter. 

But, when the dark is flushed to day, 

And through the leaves the sun is glancing, 

Coral mushrooms in brave array 

Mark where the fairy feet were dancing. 


67 


THE LOST SHOE 

The Lost Shoe 

Last night, by the side of the mountain lake, 
Half hid in heather and ling, 

As I went the way that the wild deer take, 

I found a wonderful thing— 

A tiny shoe, such as fairies make, 

Golden and glimmering. 

Some fairy had lost it, dancing there 
In the moon-ray, light and fleet, 

While the flutes and cymbals shook in the air 
A-twinkle with elfin feet; 

Lost it and left it—small and fair, 

Dainty and gold and sweet. 

Will the leprechaun toil all night long 
To match the missing shoe?— 

Sewing away with a golden thong 
Till his weary task is through, 

And keeping time with an elfin song 
To his hammer’s tick, tack, too? 

Did she seek it, I wonder, all in vain 
Ere the fairy host took flight? 

Shall I hear her sob in the summer rain 
At my window-pane tonight? 

Or see her wander the hills again 
With tear-stained face and white? 

I think that this morning I will take 
The golden, glimmering 
Small shoe once more to the mountain lake, 
And there, in the fairy ring, 

Lay it and leave it—for her sake, 

That sorrowful elfin thing. 


68 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 

The First Christmas 

One singeth: 

Maid Mary came to Bethlehem town, 

(Now, Christ be with us all) 

The snow adrift upon her gown; 

Full wild the wintry wind did blow, 

Yet room was none for her to go 
In cottage or in hall. 

That night to her the Lord came down, 

In a poor stable stall. 

One sayeth: 

That night the stars went singing, and the wind, 
And all the choiring angels, row on row, 

And shepherds, hasting through the dark to find 
Thee in the manger low. 

One singeth: 

O shepherds brought their gifts to Him, 
(Christ dwell with us tonight) 

And kings came riding from the dim 
Great lands beneath the eastern sky, 

And patient ox and ass stood by 
With wondering eyes and bright; 

And cherubim and seraphim 
Sang glory up the height. 

One sayeth: 

And through the years between us and that morn 
Still sounds that angel singing, clear and true; 
And still, each Christmas Day, the Child is born 
King of our hearts anew. 


69 


IN THE MUSEUM 

In The Museum 

O you who tread an unknown way, 

Small Daphne or Alcithoe, 

The toys with which you used to play, 

In the museum gallery 

Of our far, foreign land we see. 

Your cart, your doll, your little shoe, 

All, all are here—but where are you? 

I wonder, when the shadows fall 

From the tall window’s pane, and creep 
Along the passages, and all 
The world we know is fast asleep, 

I wonder, do you ever creep 
Out of the by-gone centuries 
And look at them with wistful eyes. 

When all the thronging feet have passed, 
And lights are out, and twilight’s o’er, 
If I could only steal at last 
Back from the world beyond the door, 
And tiptoe down the aisles once more. 
And swiftly fling the portals wide— 

I wonder, would you run and hide? 

Or should I see your golden hair 

Gleam in the darkness, where you sit 
Bending a childish face and fair 
Above your doll, and tending it? 

Or watch you through the shadows flit 
Tossing your ball, with shouts of glee, 

O Daphne or Alcithoe? 


70 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


Your dust has blown to every wind, 

The hearts that loved you long grown cold, 
Yet, in this far-off land, we find 
Dim memories of that love of old, 

Though thirty centuries have rolled— 

The love that, vainly weeping, gave 
Your toys to you, in your small grave. 

The doll you loved is still the same 
As when, in days of long ago. 

With eager voice you called her name, 

Or rocked her gently to and fro 

Crooning a sleep song, soft and low; 

But you—who knows where now you be. 
Dear Daphne or Alcithoe? 

The gods you worshipped are forgot. 

Their altars gone, their fires are dead; 

But still in some green, pleasant spot, 

Some sweet and sunny garden stead, 

I like to dream your golden head 
Still flits about; your little ghost 
Plays with the toys you loved the most. 


Bed-Time Song 

There’s a playmate that’s waiting for you, my dear, 
The wonderful man in the moon; 

You may climb up his ladder of silvery light, 

And if you set out at the dead of night 
You’ll be there and back by noon. 


THE BABE 


71 


And he’ll let you float in his golden boat, 
In his wonderful bark canoe, 

And swim in his lake, so dark and deep, 
And catch gold fish with the nets of sleep, 
The Man in the Moon and you. 

And he’ll let you into his little house 
That’s small and round and bright, 

And he’ll let you polish the shining stars 
And put them into their silver cars, 

And play in the moon all night. 

But when the sun gets up in the sky, 

Ere the Moon Man goes to bed 
He’ll bring you down to the earth again, 
And tuck you under your counterpane. 

My dear little Sleepy Head. 


The Babe 

All the old gods are dead, they say. Not so! 

For on a midnight, centuries ago— 

That night of nights, when Christ to earth came 
down— 

The old gods trooping came 

Into the sleeping streets of Bethlehem town; 

Not, as their wont, with thunder and with flame, 

For Zeus had laid aside 

His thunderbolts, and Hera all her pride. 

So, to the stable bare 


72 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


They came, and found Him there; 

Within the manger, wrapped in sleep, He lay, 
Who over gods and men alike holds sway, 

The Lord of earth and air. 

Within the manger there He lay and smiled, 

A little, naked Child, 

No kingly sceptre in His fingers pressed— 

Small, crumpled fingers, helpless, straying, sweet, 
That curled about her breast 
Who lay and kissed those dimpled hands and feet. 
And lo! The old gods bowed to Him the knee, 
The Word-Made-Flesh—Incarnate Deity. 

And Pan played to Him wondrous melodies. 
Music, whose sobbing beat 
Dripped from his pipe, like water in the heat; 
And white Diana laid, with wistful eyes, 

Her quiver at His feet. 

And since that day no more the sapphire sea 
Laves Aphrodite’s breast of ivory; 

And up the misty hill 

And through the coverts, now no longer sounds 
The deep-mouthed music of Diana’s hounds; 

And Pan his piping shrill 

Within the glen or by the river-side 

Has hushed to silence. Yet they have not died. 

Still in the city or the woodland glen 

They go their ways, unmarked by mortal men, 

And work His sovran will,— 

The Babe of Bethlehem, Who reigneth still,— 
Until He come again. 


LOUGHNAREA 


73 


Loughnarea 

O could I but win to my heart’s desire, I know where 
I’m fain to be, 

But it’s over sea and it’s over land, and it’s half o’ 
the world away, 

By a little lake in the heart o’ the hills that once were 
home to me. 

O Rose o’ the World, do you never dream of the 
shores of Loughnarea? 

’Tis there I would be in the dead of night, when the 
ripple is hushed and still, 

And never a sigh of the lonely wind goes wandering 
through the sedge, 

When the only gleam is the ghost of a star that’s 
drowned in the water chill, 

And a mist like a feather of white lies curled on the 
rushes that fringe the edge. 

I’m fain for my feet to press once more the grass 
of the fairy ring, 

And to see once more the People of Peace at their 
dance ’neath the hawthorn bough, 

And I’m fain and fain to hear again the snatches of 
song they sing— 

Old songs, that sound through the heart o’ me, 
though I’m far from the hawthorn now. 

O Rose o’ the World, do you mind the day you stood 
’neath the hawthorn’s snow, 

And a foam of petals lay at your feet, and you gath¬ 
ered them up in your hand? 


74 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Could I stand once more at your side again as I 
stood in the long ago 

The Queens of the Sidhe* might call in vain—tall 
Emer and Maeve and Fand. 

But I’m far and far over land and sea and the half 
o’ the world between, 

And the Queens of the Sidhe have laughed their last, 
and the dancers have danced away, 

And the snow-white breast of my Rose o’ the World 
lies still where the turf grows green, 

And my heart, like the ghost of a star, lies drowned 
in the depths of Loughnarea. 

The Canada Wind 

You may praise the glamour and glory of Spring if 
you will, 

And the beauty of earth, set free from the frost’s 
embrace; 

Give me the north wind, sweeping over the hill, 

And the scurry of driving snow that stings my 
face. 

Give me the sky with its glimmer of stars steel-blue, 
And a scimitar-blade of moon, swung low and 
bright,— 

You may keep the languorous darkness, drenched 
with dew, 

And the slumbrous scents and sounds of the sum¬ 
mer night. 


* Sidhe-Shee: Fairies. 



THE PROCESSION 


75 


Ah me! for the snow that creaks beneath my tread, 
For the triumphing wind, that calls and laughs and 
sings, 

That shouts to the stars and bends the pine-tree’s 
head, 

And over the wide white world its challenge flings. 

Then praise the dews and the showers of spring if 
you will, 

Or the long, hot summer days with their languid 
grace; 

Give me the north wind, piping over the hill, 

And the scurry of driving snow, that stings my 
face. 


The Procession 

When day is over, and the shadow falls, 

Swathing in mists the dome of old St. Paul’s, 

And, deepening, shuts the busy streets from sight 
In the thick curtain of the gathering night, 

Lo! Through the winding ways, as dark draws down, 
A long procession rides through London Town. 

For, while within those streets the waning light 
Fades into darkness, and there falls the night, 

The homeless beggar, shivering and aghast, 

May hear the tramp of many a foot go past, 

And see, with banners waving wide and far, 

The army of the dead go forth to war. 

And not alone the London roads may see 
That host ride on in pomp and pageantry; 


76 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


For many a country shepherd, in amaze, 

Watches those banners dance, those torches blaze, 
And still the tale to wondering ears tells o’er— 

How England’s dead ride through her ways once 
more. 

The coastguard, watching from his cliffs, may hear 
The creak of rope and block rise to his ear, 

And far below, upon the shelving beach, 

Hear long dead sailors calling, each to each: 

“Ho! Mainsail haul! To sea with all our host; 

The great Armada sweeps along our coast.” 

The peasant, driving his benighted wain, 

May hear the clang of armour down the lane. 

And, through the shadows, horses’ hoofs that ring; 
While, in his harness clad, Richard the King,— 
With the red cross upon his shield, as when 
He fought the infidel—rides by again. 

Harry of England and the bowmen good 
Who on the fields of France so stoutly stood; 

There rides our earliest Edward, tall and fair, 

And many a gallant knight and squire are there; 
Till, through the mists that drape the eastern sky, 
The men of Mons and Marne come riding by. 

Fear not, O England! Never foe shall stand 
And gaze with conqueror’s eyes upon thy strand; 
For lo! The living and the dead still keep, 

Alike, their watch above thy children’s sleep. 

And still, each night, when darkness gathers down, 
That great procession rides through London Town. 


77 


THE CHANGELING 

The Changeling 

Lennavan mo,* how came she there, 

The tall, strange woman, with floating hair? 

I heard no finger unlatch the door 

And never a footstep crossed the floor; 

Yet she stood by your cradle, bending low, 

And kissed your cheek, O Lennavan mo. 

Lennavan mo, was I aught to blame? 

Each night I knelt and I named the Name; 

No may-bough crossed the threshold o’er, 

And the holy iron was hung on the door, 

And I gave no gift to the Lennan Shee, 

But she stole the heart of my heart from me. 

Lennavan mo, you were strong and fair— 

The thing that wails in the cradle there 

Is little and twisted and old and white, 

And its eyes are full of unholy light; 

With blessed water its brow I crossed 

And it shrieked at the touch like a soul that’s lost. 

Lennavan mo, where e’er you be, 

In some dim land of the Daoine Sidhe, 

Do you miss your mother’s encircling arm, 

And the wee white cot, and the fireside warm? 

Do you cry, in that country where all is bright, 
For the one who loves you by day and night? 

O People of Twilight, come and bring 
The changeling back to the fairy ring; 


* Lennavan mo: My Child. 



78 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


For it will not drink from a mortal breast, 
And in mortal arms it will not rest; 

And it wails and wails till my heart is sore; 
O bring my lennavan home once more. 


The Quicken Boughs 

Underneath the quicken boughs,* 

To and fro, 

Sun and shadow, dark and light 
Come and go; 

All the tides of day and night 
Ebb and flow. 

Underneath the quicken boughs 
Who wait there? 

Maidens of the Daoine Sidhe,f 
Tall and fair; 

Winds of dream blow ceaselessly 
In their hair. 

Underneath the quicken boughs 
Still they blow, 

Tossing o'er the weary earth. 

To and fro, 

Dreams of sorrow and of mirth, 

Joy and woe. 

Underneath the quicken boughs, 

In a ring, 

* The quicken, or mountain ash, is a sacred tree in Ireland, 
t Daoine Sidhe-Dhinny Shee: Fairy folk. 



A RAINY DAY 


79 


Maidens of the Daoine Sidhe 
Sit and sing 

Songs that still like swallows flee, 
Murmuring. 

Underneath the quicken boughs, 

Fast or slow, 

Sun and shadow, day and night, 

Still they go; 

Endless tides of dark and light 
Ebb and flow. 

A Rainy Day 

Grey skies, and mists that sway 
Against my window pane, 

And wind that calls all day, 

And calls in vain. 

Who knows what ancient wrong 
Is sounding in that blast? 

What inarticulate song 
Finds voice at last? 

What drippings of old tears 
Fall through the sobbing rain? 

What sorrows of dim years 
Take shape again? 

Who knows?—Draw down the blind; 
My fire is burning bright; 

Out in the rain and wind 
Who waits to-night? 


80 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Wind In Summer 

Come from the gates of the dawning with the sun¬ 
rise on your wings, 

Call to the dreaming waters till the sea awakes and 
sings, 

Till the waves with madcap laughter go dancing upon 
their way, 

And the arms of the white sea-maidens toss in the 
flying spray. 

We have grown spent and weary with glare and dust 
and heat, 

Come from the cool of the woodlands, from green 
aisles dim and sweet, 

Glades where the brown elf lingers, pools where the 
nixie lies, 

Bringing the magic fern-seed to sprinkle on our eyes. 

Come through the boughs of the orchard, whispering 
soft and low, 

Shaking the cherry blossom down on the grass like 
snow; 

Dappling the ground with shadows from every 
branch that swings; 

Come from the gates of the dawning, with the sun¬ 
rise on your wings. 

A Lullaby 

Little feet, grown weary of play, 

Daytime and playtime have passed away, 

And the sun swings low in the west; 


SPINDRIFT 


81 


Fades the glory of sunset light 
In ruby and gold and malachite, 

Then rest, my baby, rest. 

Darker, softer the shadows grow; 

Hark to the sleep call, soft and low. 

Sounding across the night; 

Silver stars are hung in the sky, 

And a silver moon is riding high 
Like a ship with sails of white. 

Golden head on my breast that lies, 

Folded fingers and fast shut eyes, 

Slumber has whelmed you deep. 

Out on a tide of dream and dew 
The galleys of Night are bearing you; 

Then sleep, my baby, sleep. 

Spindrift 

Spindrift—foam of the sea, 

Acrid and salt with tears, 

Borne on the wandering winds—unresting, bitter 
with doom, 

Still as of old it blows 
Across the echoing years, 

Over the ghosts of the galleys of Greece, the tri¬ 
remes of Rome. 

All the ships of the past, 

The navies of old renown, 

Corsair and merchant, the valour of England, the 
pride of Spain, 


82 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


Shadowy hulls, through the mists 
From the Sea of the Shadows blown, 

Bitter and chill it sweeps through their sails, they 
sink into mist again. 

Spindrift,—foam of the sea, 

Acrid, bitter of breath, 

Borne on the winds forever, unresting, laden with 
doom, 

Blowing across the years 
Salt with the brine of death, 

Over the ghosts of the galleys of Greece, the tri¬ 
remes of Rome. 

The Bugles* Call 

There’s a sound of bugles blowing, 

There’s a triumph in the wind, 

There’s a tramp of footsteps going; 

And who heeds the tear-drops flowing 
Of the women left behind? 

There is many a lass is sighing 
For the lad she’ll never see; 

On a battle field he’s lying, 

O’er his head the trumpets crying 
As they march to victory. 

But he will not heed their calling— 

O, be sure his rest is deep! 

For above the battle’s brawling 
He has heard the falling, falling 
Of the drowsy waves of sleep. 


CRADLE SONG 


83 


And when all the battle’s over, 

And its memories growing dim, 
O’er her nest amid the clover 
The lark may singing hover, 

But she will not waken him. 

There’s a wail of bugles blowing, 
There’s a trouble on the wind; 
Marching feet are coming, going, 

But who heeds the tear-drops flowing 
Of the women left behind? 


Cradle Song 

Husheen lo! 

The sun is westing, 

Birds are nesting, 

Shadows grow; 

And above your cradle swinging 
Mother’s singing— 

Husheen lo! 

Husheen lo! 

Husheen lo! 

The night is falling 
Winds are calling 
Soft and slow; 

And the evening star is gleaming 
O’er your dreaming, 

Husheen lo! 

Husheen lo! 


84 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


Husheen lo! 

If on the morrow 
Cometh sorrow, 

Who shall know? 

God, His watch above you keeping, 
Guard your sleeping; 

Husheen lo! 

Husheen lo! 

A Question 

Will I be missing you, do you say? 

And you to be going so far away 
Over the great sea, wild and grey ? 

Will I be missing you? O my dear, 

Will the sun ever shine and you not here, 

Or the birds be singing their music clear ? 

Others faces may come and pass, 

As the shadows fleet o’er the wind-swept grass, 
Or my image slips through the looking-glass. 

But every wind through my heart that blows 
Names your name to me as it goes, 

And I hear your voice in each stream that flows. 

In every sunset your face I see, 

Through whispering woods you walk with me 
While your hand in mine lies quietly. 

Will I be missing you, do you say ? 

Sure, my heart it follows you, night and day, 
And you to be going so far away. 


THE ROADS OF FRANCE—1918 85 


The Roads of France—1918 

The roads of France ran fair and white 
Five years ago, 

Beneath a sunny sky and bright; 

Beside them orchard branches swung 
Heavy with fruit, and vineyards hung 
Their purple clusters low. 

The roads of France—no longer white 
They run today. 

God pity all poor souls tonight 
Who walk those piteous ways that lie 
Wrenched, twisted, battered, ’neath a sky 
Of scarred and sullen grey. 

The roads of France—their blossoms bright 
Long since are dead; 

Only the rows of crosses white 
Rank upon rank beside them rise, 

Each marking where, all dreamless, lies 
Some nameless hero’s head. 

The roads of France—they lie tonight 
Shattered and grey,— 

Poor, piteous things beneath the light; 

Yet dearer far to us they be, 

For Honour, Valour, Memory 
Now walk them day by day. 


86 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 

I Spoke To God 

I spoke to God and said: 

“Thou, Who hast given to me 
Only Thine enmity, 

Giving me tears to drink, and bitter bread 

Earned by hard service, loneliness and sorrow. 
And pain, and weariness, 

A life I asked not for, and on the morrow 
An instant’s passage into nothingness; 

How should I love Thee, Who hast set me here 
To wander in a drear and endless wild? 

I love Thee not nor fear.” 

He said: “Poor child! 

“If I had given to thee 
Fullness of all the earth, 

Lapped thee in laughter, cradled thee in mirth. 

Thou hadst forgotten Me. 

And since, forgetting Me, all else had left thee, 
And loves had failed thee, pleasures ceased to be, 

Lo! for a few brief hours I have bereft thee. 

That thou might’st hold them through eternity. 
Look up to where I stand,— 

From where thou wanderest, passion-tossed and 
wild,— 

Waiting to lay them back into thine hand, 

Poor child 1” 


EPISODES 

Episodes 

Desire, delight and pain, 

A stir in the heart of earth, 
Sunshine and falling rain— 

Birth. 

Brief, sweet laughter and tears, 

A tumult of eddying strife, 

Drift and the wreckage of years— 
Life. 

Smarting of dust in the eyes, 

A moment’s catching of breath, 
Sudden, a glad surprise— 

Death. 


Two 

If I should die tonight—and through the press 
Of thronging ghosts that haunt the Border Line 
Between that land and ours, this soul of mine 
Go, seeking solace in its loneliness; 

While the unnumbered multitude of dead 
Pass and repass me with incurious eyes, 

And locked, pale lips, that hold all mysteries, 
Where I walk, silent and uncomforted; 

Yet, in that land of shadows, there are two 
Whose welcome will not fail me, though I stray 
Bewildered, lost, alone in that dim way 
’Mid the unfriendly ghosts—my dog and you. 


88 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

For this I know, wherever I may fare, 

Sudden, amid the shadows, I shall see 
His little head pressed close against my knee. 

His eager tail wagging to find me there. 

And you, who for so many years have trod 

The floor of Heaven, when you shall know my 
shade 

Waits in the darkness, lonely and afraid, 

Will you not hasten down the stair of God, 

And through the thronging phantoms to my side ? 
While all the paths of that dim Borderland 
Grow bright beneath your feet and I shall stand 
With two who love me, and be satisfied. 


Three Kings Came Riding 

Three Kings came riding 
Into Bethlehem Town, 

Each one bore a sceptre, 

A sceptre and a crown; 

All at the inn stable 
They lighted down. 

There in a manger 
Baby Jesus slept, 

Dimpled small fingers 

Round Mary’s bosom crept. 

Ox and ass beside Him 
Their vigil kept. 


SONG 


89 


Angels stood waiting 
At His Feet and Head; 
Three Kings came riding 
And knelt before His bed, 
Bringing Him for offering 
White gold and red. 

Rich gifts they gave Him,— 
Homage for a King, 
Frankincense for Honour, 
Myrrh for Suffering; 
Mary, Maid and Mother, 
Watched, wondering. 

Three Kings came riding, 

In purple and in pall, 
Lords to do their bidding 
And servants at their call, 
And found, within a manger, 
The Lord of all. 


Song 

O come from the gates of the West, 

Sweet Night, in your garments of grey. 
And bring to us healing and rest 
From the toil and the tumult of day. 

The twilight has crept o’er the hill, 

The wind is asleep in the tree, 

The music of birds has grown still, 

And silent the song of the sea. 


90 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


Ere sunset shall fade from the skies 
In its glories of crimson and gold, 

O come! From your caverns arise 
With the dreams and the memories of old; 
With the dusk and the dew on your wing, 
And starshine and shadow at play, 

Come, laden with slumber, and bring 
Us rest from the cares of the day. 


Across The Dark 

Across the dark, beyond the evening star, 

What ways lie there, O Friend? 

You who have won to those strange lands and far, 
What of the journey’s end? 

Of that lone passage, dark and perilous, 

What word have you for us? 

What welcome met you in that unknown land ? 
What feet familiar came? 

What loves of old-time clasped you by the hand 
Or called upon your name? 

What brave old jests? What laughter and what tears 

Rose from the buried years? 

So do we cry—but vainly hold our breath, 

Waiting in hope to hear, 

Across the dark, through the barred doors of death, 
Your answer, O most dear. 

No word comes from those guarded gates to tell 
If you fare ill or well. 


WHEN I LIE A-DYING, LASS 


91 


But still we dream that, faring through the night, 
Beyond the evening star, 

We yet shall reach some longed-for land of light 
And find you where you are; 

And on the borders of that unknown land 
Our hand shall clasp your hand. 

When I Lie A-Dying, Lass 

When I lie a-dying, lass, I pray you, promise me 
To open wide the window, that my spirit may go 
free 

From lane shut in and sheltered field to where the 
great waves roar, 

Breaking in from open sea, to crash upon the 
shore. 

Where the storm-cloud gathers, and the winds and 
thunders are, 

Crying like the curlew, I shall sweep across the 
bar; 

Leave the weary land behind and, cradled on the 
main, 

Rocking in the long green swells, shall wash me 
clean again. 

When I lie a-dying, lass, I’m fain to be alone, 

So fling the casement open wide, and kiss me, and 
begone, 

That the salt, sweet wind may enter, and may bear 
my spirit free 

From lanes shut in and sheltered fields, out to the 
open sea. 


92 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


Mary Of The Candles 

At night, when dusk comes creeping 
As quiet as a mouse, 

And marching troops of shadows 
Invade the silent house; 

When old familiar corners 
To dens of fear have grown, 

And I am small and frightened 
And helpless and alone; 

When hosts of goblin fancies 
Await me on the stair, 

To Mary of the Candles 

I kneel and make my prayer. 

O Mary, Maid and Mother, 

When little Jesus pressed 
At night, when fell the shadows, 
His Head upon your breast, 

Did you not watch His sleeping 
Lest He should wake in fear, 

And groping through the darkness 
Be glad to find you near ? 

Then, Mother, guard my slumbers 
And bid my fears depart. 

O Mary of the Candles, 

Give light within my heart. 

She comes across the darkness 
With smiling lips and eyes, 

Her wind-blown hair is fragrant 
With dews of Paradise; 


A SONG OF THE SEA 


93 


She croons old rhymes of childhood, 
As once, in Galilee, 

And phantom hosts of shadows 
Before her coming flee. 

The stars, that are her tapers, 

Make all the dusk grow bright, 
And Mary of the Candles 
Fills the dark house with light. 


A Song Of The Sea 

When the winds are out and the waves awaken, 
Calling, calling across the foam, 

A voice from the years that Time has taken 
Cries aloud to me: “Come, oh come! 

Leave the land, with its dust and heat, 

Come to my long waves, cool and sweet, 

To the wide green stretches of wind-swept water; 
White arms wait for you. Home, come home! 

“Come, ah, come! I have gifts to bring to you— 
Shadowy depths where silence lies; 

Sea-maids’ arms to clasp you and cling to you; 

Sea-maids’ kisses, cool on your eyes; 

Sands of silver, and rose-lipped shells; 

Emerald isles where the slow wave swells; 
Surge and song of the sunlit ocean; 

Winds that wander and foam that flies.” 

When the winds are out and the waters waken 
Let me return to the calling sea, 


94 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

To the dim, sweet depths, to the waves wind-shaken, 
Back to the arms that wait for me. 

I will put out from the weary shore, 

Fain to lie on her breast once more, 

With her arms to fold me, her voice to sing to me, 
Her long grey billows my couch to be. 

The Open Road 

I will go out where the great winds blow, 

Go out to the open downs, 

With the stars above and the turf below, 

Where the ribbon of road runs, white as snow,— 
From the toil and fret of the towns. 

I will leave behind me cark and care, 

And will shake my shoulders free 
From the weary burden that townsfolk bear— 

I will walk where the great winds walk, and where 
The downs sing to the sea. 

I will go out, like my sires of yore, 

I will tread the path they trode; 

I will know the fret of the towns no more; 

I will go out from their dust and roar— 

Out, out to the open road. 

Life 

Life has given me of its best— 

Laughter and weeping, labour and rest, 

Little of gold, but lots of fun; 

Shall I then sigh that all is done? 


IRISH PEASANT TO HIS MISTRESS 95 

No, not I; while the new road lies 
All untrodden, before my eyes. 

Life has given me dreams to keep, 

Glad awakings, and slumbers deep, 

Friends to love me, and foes to fight; 

Shall I then weep when falls the night? 

No, not I; since the road runs on 
Through the dark to another dawn. 

Life has given me grief and glee, 

Song of the wind, and salt of the sea, 

Pain, and pleasure, and quiet breath; 

Shall I then fear the face of Death? 

No, not I; who would fain unfold 
All the secrets his locked lips hold. 


The Irish Peasant To His Mistress 

If I had silver at my command, 

Many’s the gift I’d lay in your hand; 

I would be giving you, O my sweet, 

Shoes of silk for your little feet, 

Silken gloves for your fingers white, 

And a chain of gold for your delight. 

But, since ’tis young I am and poor, 

None of all these I hold in store. 

Had I the power to give gifts more rare, 

Sure, I’d pluck the stars to adorn your hair; 
Wind of the west and wind of the south 
Should blow you perfumes, sweet as your mouth; 


96 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


Wine of the gods your drink should be, 

And to light your candle, astore machree, 

I’d draw the moon from the misty skies— 

But she’d fade and die before your eyes. 

Yet ’tis myself has gifts to bring— 

Dappled trout from the crystal spring, 

Roses, still with the dew-drops pearled, 

Fresh as when God first made the world, 

Coral mushrooms, all freaked with fawn 
By the Good Folks’ feet that danced till dawn; 
And, if it’s more you are wanting still, 

’Tis my heart I’ll give you, to keep or kill. 


Pan 

He sleeps in the sedge by the river side, 
(Pan, goatfoot Pan) 

Whispering waters past him glide, 

Leaping, dancing, chuckling with glee, 
Pausing, lapping their shores to see 
The sleeper who lies so quietly— 

Pan, goatfoot Pan. 

Never now do his shepherds bring 
(Pan, goatfoot Pan) 

To his dark shrine their offering— 

Rough, red wine, in a beechen cup, 

Leaf-wrapped cheese, that the God may sup; 
No wheaten loaf is now offered up 
To Pan, goatfoot Pan. 


THOUGH WE ARE OLD 


97 


Dryads peer from their leafy brake, 

(Pan, goat foot Pan) 

Wondering, when shall the sleeper wake. 

All the folk of the field and sedge, 
Water-rats from the river edge, 

Sleek, brown mice from the hazel hedge, 
Peeping at goatfoot Pan. 

There I found him, ere morn was done, 

(Pan, goatfoot Pan) 

Lying there, a-sprawl in the sun; 

Twitter of birds above his head, 

Broken pipes, whence the songs had fled; 

Is he asleep, or is he dead ? 

(Pan, goatfoot Pan.) 

Though We Are Old 

We have grown old. The world is past its prime. 

No more incarnate Beauty in the Spring 
Walks; through the long sweet nights of summer¬ 
time 

The nightingale shall sing 
No more, no more, ah! never more to us 

His crown song, pouring forth its notes of gold. 
Lo! broken is the dream and ruinous, 

And we grow old. 

No more for us, with wind-blown hair and bright, 
The dryads dance beneath the forest tree, 

Or Aphrodite’s shoulder, rosy white, 

Breaks the long sweep of sea. 


98 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

No winter brings us, with its firelight, 

The dreams of young adventure, gay and bold. 

The fires are out upon our hearth tonight, 

And we grow old. 

Yet still young lovers, walking in the glades, 

Shall hear Pan’s piping, sounding shrill and clear, 

Or watch white Dian with her laughing maids 
Follow the flying deer. 

Still the sun shines, and still the children play, 

And youths are passionate and maids are cold, 

And still the world goes on its laughing way 
Though we grow old. 


In The Slum 

A squalid street, where the hot sunshine falls 
On rows of roughcast shacks, grimy and grey, 
In the slight shade cast by the crumbling walls 
The mangy dogs and ragged children play; 
Faint with stale odours swoons the air away; 

The children gasp and quarrel; somewhere calls 
A dissonant bell; a Jewish pedlar bawls 

His frowsy wares, down streets as foul as they. 

Dust, grime and heat o’er all—but suddenly, 
Fluttering in apple-green and tipped with rose, 
Incarnate Springtime, sauntering slowly by, 

A laughing glance across her shoulder throws 
From ardent eyes that hold all Italy— 

And all the sordid street to beauty glows. 


99 


OUR LADY OF TWILIGHT 

Our Lady Of Twilight 

When day is past and the shadows grow 
Our Lady of Twilight steals soft and slow 
From the starlit gardens of Paradise, 

Bringing her dreams to weary eyes. 

The misty moonbeam paths are sweet 
With the silvery chiming of her feet; 

And the dusk is full of murmurings, 

Faint and lovely, of unseen wings. 

In the garden close, at sight of her, 

The tall white lilies are all astir; 

And she walks among them with dreaming eyes 
Fresh with the dews of Paradise. 

So nightly, adown the moonbeam stair, 

With the winds of slumber in her hair, 

Bringing her dreams to weary men, 

Our Lady of Twilight comes again. 


The Dreamer 

He walks among the woods when twilight flings 
O’er all the unquiet land its boon of rest; 

He hears the flutter of the wild-bird wings 
That in the darkness brood above their nest, 
And sees the sun, that hastens down the west 
To meet his love, the Sea, and panting flings 
Himself upon the coolness of her breast, 

Who stills his passions with soft murmurings. 


100 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


His eyes are dark with shadows; at his feet, 

With nodding heads, the drowsy poppies blow; 

While round his head, with murmurous sound and 
sweet, 

On silent wings dim dreams flit to and fro. 

So through the summer night the Dreamer stands, 
Holding the keys of slumber in his hands. 

Sea-Faring 

They who go a-seafaring 
Happy folk they be, 

For all the wide and goodly world 
God gives them for to see— 

Sunwashed seas beneath the Line, 

Northern berg and floe, 

Coral reef and fronded palm, 

As the galleons go. 

They who go a-seafaring 
Many sights they see,— 

Caverns where the kraken sprawls 
And great sea-snakes be; 

Lonely isles and cities lost 
Where no mortals stray, 

Old-time towns, whose towers rise 
Through the sheeted spray. 

They who go a-seafaring 
North and South they run, 

See the sands where mermaids lie 
Naked in the sun, 


WIND VOICES 


101 


Singing, as the galleons sail, 

(Golden hair a-gleam) 

Songs the wistful shipman hears 
Sounding through his dream. 

They who go a-seafaring 
Many wonders know; 

O’er all the wide and goodly world 
The ships pass to and fro; 

Lazy tides in locked lagoons, 

Seas where mists lie curled— 

Storms and thunders of the North,— 

Well they know the world. 

Wind Voices 

What did you hear when the wind was crying— 
Crying out in the dark and rain? 

When golden and red the leaves were flying, 

And big drops beat on the window pane? 

Was it the sound of an old refrain 

That called and called and would not be still,— 
A voice from the long dead years again? 

Hark to the wind upon the hill! 

What did you hear when the house was sleeping— 
Lying alone in the darkness there? 

Was it a foot up the passage leaping, 

And old-time laughter upon the stair? 

Ah, but the old-time days were fair, 

When love and laughter were ours at will! 
Where are they now, I pray you, where? 

Hark to the wind upon the hill! 


102 WHEN HALF GODS GO 
The Dreamers 

We dreamed by night and we dreamed by day, 
(Alas, for the dream that ne’er came true!) 

Some dreamed of a future far away, 

Some dreamed of a home where children play, 

But I—oh, I dreamed of you. 

One dreamed of the wind in northern pines, 

(Ah, never more shall he hear its tone!) 

And one of hedges where hawthorn twines, 

And one of wattle and southern vines; 

I dreamed of your face alone. 

They dreamed of honour and wealth and fame, 
(Ah, dreams of youth that so seldom last!) 

I dreamed of a voice that called my name, 

Of the sound of a foot that never came, 

Of eyes that smiled from the past. 

So we dreamed by night and we dreamed by day, 
(Alas, for the dream which ne’er came true!) 

They dreamed of wealth and a flowery way, 

And their hopes were high and their hearts were gay 
I only dreamed of you. 


In The City 

Heat- 

Pitiless, quivering, aflare! 

Pavements that scorch bare, grimy, childish feet 
Groping for coolness there. 


THE THOUSAND ISLANDS 


103 


Alley and fetid lane 

Pour forth their living flood 
Seeking relief, and seeking all in vain, 

While, like a ball of blood, 

Down through the tortured sky 

The sun drops. Night comes with no wind’s 
sweet boon; 

Close and more close the heavy shadows lie, 

Under a blood-red moon. 

One voice of moan 

Sounds from the city, echoing on and on 
Down all the streets—a universal groan! 

Till, with the dawn, 

The angry sun 

Leaps from his burning bed, resumes his sway, 
And gasping courts and alleys have begun 
Another day. 


The Thousand Islands 

Starry crowned, majestic fronted, rising from the 
river’s flow, 

Plumy crests of pine above them, purple depths of 
wave below, 

Song of wind and sigh of water all the voices that 
they know— 

Save that when the evening sunset bars with flame 
the barren west, 


104 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

Or the moon with fretted silver diapers the river’s 
breast, 

Laughs the loon across the water, booms the bittern 
from her nest. 

In their stony hearts what visions hold they of the 
life they knew, 

When the Indian through their channels paddled in 
his bark canoe?— 

Now no more he builds his altars to his mighty 
Manitou. 

So they stand, serene, majestic—rising from the 
river’s flow, 

Plumy crests of pine above them, purple depths of 
wave below— 

Song of wind and sigh of water all the voices that 
they know. 


All Hallows Eve 

(There is a superstition in Ireland that upon the Eve of 
All Saints’ Day, which we call Hallowe’en, the dead are 
allowed to visit their friends upon earth, to break bread with 
them and to remain with them till midnight strikes.) 

Will you not come, dear heart? Tonight alone 
Of all the weary year, 

God’s tender hand has opened wide the door 
That stands between us and the love of yore; 
Between us, with our mortal hope and fear, 

And those from doubting gone. 


LITTLE HOUSE WE DREAMED OF 105 

See, I have swept the hearth and piled the fire 
With glowing turf, and set 
Your chair once more in its accustomed place; 

Will you not leave your heaven, and turn your face 
For this one night, where I, who love you yet, 

Wait you with wild desire? 

Forego one hour your heaven’s warmth and light; 

They cannot need you there 
As I, who only long once more to place 
My hand in yours, to see once more your face, 

And feel your fingers lying on my hair; 

Give me at least tonight. 


The Little House We Dreamed Of 

The little house we dreamed of—that lies out over 
yonder 

Where the shadows gather, across the quiet wold. 

Does the light still linger around its eaves, I wonder, 
As when first we knew it—O Heart o’ Gold ? 

Oh, Heart o’ Gold, where you rest among the 
shadows, 

Dreaming through the long years, while seasons 
ebb and flow, 

Do you still remember that cottage in the meadows, 
The gardens green, the ways serene, we walked 
so long ago? 

The little house we dreamed of—its rooms were full 
of laughter, 


106 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


(Dear, do you remember the merry tales we told, 
Songs that brought an echo twitt’ring from the rafter 
Where the swallows nested—O Heart o’ Gold?) 

The little house we dreamed of—dear vision, ours 
no longer, 

Gone into the darkness that wraps the years of old! 
Will it find fulfilment when, with faith grown 
stronger, 

We shall hail the morning—O Heart o’ Gold? 


Nuts And May 

Sing the old melodies over and over, 

Sorrow and sighing shall cease at their call; 
Children’s glad play in the meadows of clover, 
Laughter and happiness ring through them all. 
Gone are the years, with their burden of pain, 
Gone in the sound of that merry refrain— 

Here we go gathering nuts and may, 

Nuts and may, nuts and may, 

Here we go gathering nuts and may 
On a bright and sunny morning. 

Hark to the sound of the children at play, 
Out of the seasons of far away; 

Back comes our youth again, blythe and gay, 
Spring is the world adorning. 

Here we go gathering nuts and may 
On a bright and sunny morning. 


SAHARA 


107 


Out of the past it comes, dancing and swinging, 
How to its music old memories throng! 

Scent of the lilac, and bird-voices singing, 
Children’s gay footsteps that hurry along; 
Springtime and youth, with their hours of gold, 
Laughter and love and the faces of old. 

Here we go gathering nuts and may, 

Nuts and may, nuts and may; 

Here we go gathering nuts and may 
On a bright and sunny morning. 

Mark ye the lilt of it, gallant and gay; 

Hearts grown weary and heads grown grey 
Follow its call to the old-time way, 

Trouble and sorrow scorning. 

Here we go gathering nuts and may 
On a bright and sunny morning. 

Sahara 

Within my walled garden 
Soft breezes come and go, 

And trees are full of blossom 
Where birds are singing low; 

Its guarded gates are golden, 

With pearls its walls are set, 

And gleaming, tall and slender, 

Rise tower and minaret. 

Outside my walled garden 
There lies a desert land, 

Nor tree, nor bird, nor blossom, 


108 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


But only sky and sand. 

Wild in the hot sirocco 

The whirling dust is blown; 

Yet there I’ll set my kingdom, 
There will I rear my throne. 

Fair is my walled garden, 

But ah, the days are long! 
Wearied my eyes with beauty, 
Wearied my ears with song; 

My heart is tired of dreaming— 
Fain would I know the strife, 
The laughter, and the sorrows 
That fill the wider life. 

Farewell, my walled garden; 

Farewell, my dreaming days; 

I’ll leave your guarded portals 
To seek the desert ways— 

There will I rear my palace, 

There will I set my throne, 

And bid the waters rise there, 

And bid the seed be sown— 

Until the waste shall blossom; 

And lo! there shall arise 
A new land and a splendid 
Where now the desert lies; 

No dreamland, walled and guarded, 
But a large life and free, 

Fulfilled of tears and laughter, 

And life—and liberty. 


DISILLUSION 


109 


Yet still my walled garden 
Shall in the sunlight sleep, 

And bird and tree and blossom 
Their wonted places keep; 

Till, done with tears and laughter, 
Weary with stress and strain, 

I in my walled garden 
Turn to my rest again. 


Disillusion 

Perchance from the East his ship shall come 
With the sun that leaps from the crimson tide; 
With blare of trumpet and beat of drum 
And clash of cymbals, my knight shall ride; 

The sun a-gleam on his hair of gold, 

Eager and young, alert and bold; 

How his eyes shall flash as he gains my side. 

Or perhaps he will come through the noontide heat, 
With soft caresses and dreaming eyes; 

He shall sing me a drowsy song and sweet, 

He shall weave me a web of lullabies; 

And in meshes of dreams shall my heart be wound; 
And his arm in dreams shall enfold me round; 

And life be a dream of summer skies. 

Or it may be when twilight shadows fall 

I shall know his footstep that mounts the stair, 

I shall hear his voice through the darkness call 
And run to the door and meet him there; 


110 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


And the room shall be warm and the fire burn bright, 
And the short hours go with laughter and light, 

And never a thought of pain or care. 

’Twas thus I dreamed—but when midnight came, 
’Mid wailing of voices through the gloom, 

Broken and beaten and bowed with shame, 

With faltering feet my stair he clomb. 

And dear was the dream-love’s youth and bliss, 

But dearer by far was the clinging kiss, 

When—weary and wounded—my knight came 
home. 


West Wind 

Come, O Wind, from the dreaming west, 
Sweeping over the water’s breast, 

Bring my unquiet spirit rest. 

Blow, O Wind, from the dying light; 
Touch my heart with your mystic might; 
Bring me peace with the coming night. 

I am weary of toil and pain, 

Garish sunshine and blinding rain; 

Bring me the kindly dark again. 

Bring me the shadows long and deep; 
Come, O Wind, o’er the waters sweep, 
Sing to my heart and bid it sleep. 


Ill 


A SONG OF AGE 

A Song Of Age 

Hey for the days of laughter, 

Hey for the dreams of youth! 
Life held no dark hereafter, 

No touch of pain or ruth; 

Then sorrow lay a-sleeping, 
Unknown were care and weeping, 
And all the years were keeping 
Were laughter, love and truth. 

Our madcap youth is over, 

Gone its unclouded skies, 

And you and I, O Lover, 

Grow old and staid and wise; 
But through the swift years going 
Love knows no ebb nor flowing, 
And still his fires are glowing, 
Dear, in your steadfast eyes. 


Fair Hills 

O, far, fair hills, whereon our child feet straying 
Found many wonders there! 

O, towering summits, where grey mists are swaying! 
Say, are you still as fair 

As when of old each valley was enchanted, 

And giant forms of yore 

Roamed through your woods and caverns, fairy- 
haunted, 

And by your white sea-shore? 


112 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


We saw them then—but ah, the years have banished 
The wide, wise childish eyes; 

From gaze grown old the fairies all have vanished, 
Or are but memories. 

We strain our eyes in vain; grown dim with weeping, 
No longer may we see 

Oscar and Finn pursue the dun deer's leaping, 

Or feasting merrily. 

Ah, lost child faith! Yet still our hearts are yearning 
To walk your ways once more; 

To see the seasons passing and returning 
Above your summits hoar. 

To lie once more amid your heath and bracken 
And hear the wind’s refrain; 

It may be the old visions would awaken, 

The old dreams come again. 

Ah, far, fair hills! that still your watch are keeping 
As when our hills you were, 

We have grown old—so old—and tired of weeping; 
Say, are you still as fair ? 

The Return 

They said you had gone to the heavenly home 
Where all was so bright and fair 
That you’d quite forgotten us here—and so, 
When the lamps were out and the fire burned low, 
I cried in the corner there, 

Until, in the dark, I felt you come 
And lay your hand on my hair. 


THE RETURN 


113 


And all at once it was gone—the pain 
That had made my heart so sore; 

For you stroked my hand in the dark, and said 
That you loved me still, although you were dead, 
And I mustn’t cry any more. 

And I knew I had got you back again, 

For you laughed as you used before. 

I told them you came; but they shook their head 
And said that it was not true— 

That I only dreamed you were here last night, 
When I sat and cried in the flickering light 
Of the fire and wished for you; 

That no one ever came back from the dead, 

For the grave would not let them through. 

But I know you came—though I’ll never tell, 
And whenever the light gets low. 

I’ll cuddle down in the dark by your side 
As I used, in the days before you died. 

And we’ll whisper together so; 

And you’ll tell me the tales I love so well. 

And kiss me before you go. 

So I do not care, though they say you’ve gone 
To walk on the heavenly floor, 

And you’ve quite forgotten us—for I know 
You came to me, and it isn’t so, 

And I needn’t cry any more; 

That whenever I sit in the dark alone 
You will come, as you came before. 


114 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

A Vilanelle 

The west was a rose aflame, 

And ever in on the sand 
The great sea murmuring came; 

Her hand was warm in my hand; 
Oh, water that called and cried 
To the lonely heart of the land, 

O restless, eddying tide! 

My heart was lonely and cold 
As your waves, and unsatisfied, 

Till she came from the sunset’s gold 
With the gold of the sun on her hair 
And the wild desires of old. 

And the weary tide of care, 

(O waves that laugh to the strand) 

Ebbed at the sight of her 

And her hand that lay in my hand. 

The Piper 

Over the hills and into the silence, 
Where the sun sets, ruddy and dim, 
Lingering notes of magic music, 

The piper calls and we follow him. 

All forgotten our sins and sorrows, 

Hope and failure, and toil and play, 
All our hearts astir to the piping 
Calling us to the far away. 


THE COWARD 


115 


Men turn back from their ceaseless driving, 
Toys are dropped from the childish hands; 
One and all we follow the piper 
Piping us to the unknown lands. 

Each one hears, in that magic music, 

Promise of that his soul holds best; 
Children yearn for a land of laughter, 

Old men turn to a land of rest. 

So to each soul on earth forever 
Sometimes cometh an evening dim, 

When, to the lands beyond the sunset, 

The piper calls and we follow him. 

The Coward 

Last night when the wind was crying 
I heard a voice in the storm, 

The voice of one who was lying 
Deep ’neath the winter snow, 

And I sat by my fireside warm 
And heard the tones I know 
Calling out of the storm to me, 

And I—I dared not go. 

Was it the wind that blew? 

Was it the falling rain? 

Or did a hand I knew— 

There in the dark outside— 

Beat at the window pane ? 

While the dear voice called and cried; 

And I—oh, fool! who did not dare 
Fling the window wide. 


116 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


Dear, should you come tonight, 

Would I not draw you in, 

Back to the warmth and light, 

Out of the wind and rain; 

But the storm goes on and no voice within 
Calls to me ever again; 

And my chance was lost last night, when you stood 
Outside my window pane. 


The Lights Of London Town 

You prate about your cornfields waving golden, mile 
by mile, 

Of the freedom of your prairies, of your moun¬ 
tains bare and brown; 

But my heart is sore within me, for a little, sea-girt 
isle, 

And all night I lie a-dreaming of the lights o' 
London Town. 

O the twinkling lights o’ London—when the fireflies 
dance and gleam, 

And the silence gathers thicker and the dark is 
drawing down, 

With each flash among the corn-stalks they go flash¬ 
ing through my dream, 

Till I gaze across the prairie at the lights o’ Lon¬ 
don Town. 

Till the murmur of the city o’er the cornfields 
echoes on! 


THE SEAGULL 117 

(O the friendly voice of London, that no flood 
of years can drown!) 

There’s a glimmer to the eastward. Well, another 
dream has gone; 

And, as daylight comes, they vanish—the dear 
lights o’ London Town. 

The Seagull 

O strong sea-sailor, whose flight lies over 
The waste of waters, so wild and grey, 

Borne on the breast of the sea, thy lover, 

Child of the winds and as fleet as they! 

When the crimson sun dips low in the west 

To what far land is thy course addressed? 

Wooed by the storms, by the waves caressed, 
Where wilt thou nest thee at close of day? 

Could we but mount upon strong white pinions, 
Find and follow and share thy flight, 

Say, to what dim, unknown dominions 
Thou wouldst lead us at close of light ? 

Would the lost Atlantis lie before us? 

Or siren sands, with their fairy chorus, 

And silvery palm fronds swinging o’er us? 

Or the Isles of the Blessed loom in sight? 

Nay, not there wouldst thou make thy dwelling, 
Bird of the storms and mate of the sea; 

Sweeter to thee the tempest swelling, 

Storm and danger more dear to thee. 

Shout of winds o’er the waters sweeping, 


118 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


Crash of waves on the black rocks leaping, 

These are the sounds that guard thy sleeping, 
Child of the waters, wild and free. 

The Rivers 

Within the confines of the Land of Shadows 
There rise two springs of water, cool and deep; 

And one flows on through asphodelian meadows, 
And one by rocky paths its wave must sweep; 

And all the souls of men a tryst must keep 
Beside those springs, when from the body free, 

And some in Lethe’s wave their lips shall steep, 

And some shall turn to sad Mnemosyne. 

Then they who drink of Lethe, shall forget 
The short-lived joys of earth and all its moan, 

The weariness, the fever and the fret, 

Ay, and the faces they in life have known, 

And all the sorrows that the years have sown, 

And friendships lost, and loves that ceased to be; 

And wander forth, rejoicing and alone, 

From Memory, pain and care forever free. 

But those whose lips Mnemosyne shall drain 
Must hie them forth by wild and stony ways, 

And evermore dead joy and living pain 

Shall haunt their dreams by night, and all their 
days. 

Faces of old-time friends shall on them gaze 
Through mists, and loves of old their eyes shall 
see; 


COULD WE BUT UNDERSTAND 119 

And all eternity be but a space 

Haunted by ghosts of by-gone Memory. 

Yet, dearest, if it may be that your face 

In dream and daylight still shall shine on me, 
Lethe shall know me not, but the wild maze 
And bitter waters of Mnemosyne. 

Could We But Understand 

Could we but understand the mystery 

Of this great world our feet are set within! 
Alas! Our finite eyes can only see 
Great formless, shadowy shapes, that spin and spin 
The webs of darkness we are tangled in. 

We dream that we are safe within Thy Hand; 
But—could we understand ! 

Could we but see why Thou to man hast given 
A mind that ever seeks to see Thee plain, 

And yet hast hid Thyself and all Thy Heaven 
So deep in mists, that still our eyes must strain 
To glimpse Thy glories, all in vain, in vain. 

We dream that fair beyond that veil they be; 
But—could we see! 

Could we but know why Thou, Who madest us all 
In Thine own image, and in us hast set 
Dreams of Thy love, ever shouldst let us fall 
Here in the outer darkness, and shouldst let 
Bewilderment and sin our spirits fret. 

We dream we shall not always wander so; 

But—could we know! 


120 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 
The Sea 

I never have seen the sea— 

But through my sleep each night 
Its waters beckon to me; 

I watch them glimmer and gleam; 

Their foaming crests of white 
Go dancing through my dream; 

And they gleam and gloom and smile at me. 
But—I never have seen the sea. 

I never have heard the sea— 

But, when the night-winds blow. 

In my dreams there comes to me 
The surge and thunder and sweep 
Of waters far below— 

The voice of the mighty deep 
That cries and calls and croons to me; 

But—I never have heard the sea. 

I never shall know the sea— 

My little, inland round 
Lies far from the ecstasy 
Of its billows, rolling wide; 

With many a mete and bound 
Unknown to its swelling tide. 

In sleep its great waves call to me, 

But—I never shall know the sea. 


ST. MICHAEL AND ANGELS, 1917 121 

St . Michael and All Angels, 1917 

Smoke of asters by the stream 
Where the red blood runs, 

Carolling of birds, that sounds 
Through the roar of guns; 

And a thousand shattered fanes 
Lift to heaven the cry: 

“Lo! Once more the Dragon brood 
Rears its crest on high. 

“Where the golden wheat fields shone, 
Black its road now lies; 

Angels of the Living God, 

Help our agonies.” 

Winnowing of angel wings 
Up the steeps of light, 

All the Chivalry of God 
Leap to join the fight— 

Faces terrible and fair, 

Swords that wheel and flame; 

Echoing streets of Paradise 
Sounding to the Name— 

Silver trumpets pealing high, 

Banners blowing far, 

Michael, with the Hosts of God, 

Rides again to war. 


122 WHEN HALF GODS GO 

“The Fair Hills Of Holy Ireland” 

Tonight outside my window the winds unheeded 
blow, 

For Fm lying here and dreaming of a land I used 
to know— 

The pleasant hills of Ireland, agleam with misty 
light, 

Their slopes once more rise green before my wistful 
eyes tonight! 

’Tis far I am from Ireland—the long, grey leagues 
of sea 

Go stretching out, a weary way, between my home 
and me; 

But the sad waves wake to laughter as they dance 
across the main, 

And singing go, they love her so, to kiss her coasts 
again. 


And what although her hills may seem to strangers 
bleak and bare, 

They’re still the hills of home to me—the pleasant 
hills and fair; 

And though her coast be rough and wild, her waters 
darken o’er, 

They’re still to me the Irish sea, they’re still the 
Irish shore. 


RED ISCARIOT 


123 

So tonight outside my window the winds unheeded 
blow, 

For Fm lying here and dreaming of a land I used 
to know— 

Ireland, the land of heart’s desire, the land of heart’s * 
delight! 

Her hills rise round, her water’s sound calls through 
my sleep tonight. 


Red Iscariot 

Far in the outer darkness, 

Through spaces all unknown, 

The soul of Red Iscariot 

Fared through the night alone; 

And the winds that blew between the worlds, 
They bit him to the bone. 

Little, and lost, and lonely, 

Trembling and sore afraid, 

Through the stark night forever 
The soul of Judas strayed; 

And in all the paths of the outer dark 
Was none to hear or aid. 

Through wrecks of ruined planets, 

Where stars in ashes lay— 

Chaos of systems long outworn 
Ere earth whirled into day— 

The soul of Red Iscariot 
Stumbled upon its way. 


124 


WHEN HALF GODS GO 


In the High House of Heaven 
Were mirth and song outpoured, 

Where sat the Twelve, together 
With Him, the Incarnate Word, 

And cherubim and seraphim 
Gave glory to the Lord. 

But whelmed in night and terror, 

Trembling and sore afraid, 

Little, and lost, and lonely, 

The soul of Judas strayed; 

And he called across the darkness 
To Him he had betrayed. 

Across the angels’ singing 
That call for mercy came, 

And the music dropped to silence 
As sinks a dying flame; 

And the Twelve cried out in wrath and scorn 
Upon the traitor’s name. 

But Christ the Lord went downward 
Where angels silently 
Knelt, and He crossed the golden floor 
And flung the portals free; 

And He cried across the outer dark: 

“Mine own, come back to Me!” 

Still, with the Twelve around Him, 

Christ reigns upon His seat, 

While cherubim and seraphim 
Make music, loud and sweet. 

But the soul of Red Iscariot 
Is kneeling at His Feet. 

Finis. 














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